


Zoostars

by J_Shute



Category: Zootopia (2016), ビースターズ | BEASTARS
Genre: Acting, And learn the truth, And save the day, Animal Instincts, Assault with a piece of fresh fruit, Banter, Best Friends, Bullying, Casual Sex, Comedy, F/F, F/M, Fantastic Racism, Fighting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forgive them for their mistakes, Gaslighting, Help others, I do nothing Beastars doesn't, Internalized racism, Loss of Control, Misunderstandings, Murder, Murder Mystery, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Doubt, Traumatic Backstory, Try Everything, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Wolf Instincts, off screen sex only, stick together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-02-23 09:50:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 56,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23176246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_Shute/pseuds/J_Shute
Summary: Something is very wrong with the predator students at Cherrington University, and it's quickly becoming a matter of life and death. It's a good thing for the botanist bunny Haru that she's just met her new friend Judy Hopps, and not just because the grey doe is doing a criminal justice degree and is determined to get to the bottom of it all. From drama at the drama club to the strange nighttime behavior of a certain Wolf and Fox, it's time to take a walk on the Wilde Side.(Zootopia - Beastars (season 1) Crossover)
Relationships: Haru/Legosi (BEASTARS), Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde, Others (Spoilers)
Comments: 188
Kudos: 225





	1. Well Bred Rabbits

**Author's Note:**

> AN: As you can guess I watched a certain anime series a few days ago. This was inevitable. In this AU, all characters are living in the Zootopia Universe (so mammals only) and studying at Cherrington University, as I feel that the slight age up allows a bit more flexibility.  
> .  
> Thanks to Jaff96 for letting me use one of his Beastars pics. Major thanks to the guys of the Zootopia Author's Association who helped look through a section of this at a reading session. Especially Dancou-Maryuu, for his excellent verbal imitation of Wild-Side.  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .

.

**.**

"I lost my appetite."

Those were the first four words of this conversation, taking place in a quiet area behind the canteen, that Judy heard. She'd didn't like the sound of it; she didn't like the look either. Three mammals standing tall, led by a rabbit doe, their fisted paws on their hips as they stared down at the one who'd so casually rebuked her. It was a classic scene of something bad about to go down, something Judy was sure to get in the way of. She began marching forward, just as the fourth mammal, a white bunny doe who'd been sitting on a step and casually trying to eat her lunch, picked up her tray and stood up to face them.

She kept calm, casual, slightly smug almost, and spoke. "Why don't you reconcile with your ex instead of bad mouthing me around school?"

"What?" the leading doe scoffed. She had a startling fur colouration, one half of her white, one half black, the division line bisecting down her centre, through her nose, mouth and tail. "Who do you think you are? Who's fault…"

"-He's the one who suddenly kissed me," the white doe reminded her, shrugging cheerily and chuckling slightly as she did so. "Besides, I'm not interested in a guy who'd get so excited over such a small and simple peck." She closed her eyes, smiled and nodded. "Now, excuse me please."

She moved to step past them, only for the bi-toned rabbit to take a step to her right and then forward, jabbing an elbow into the other doe. She was thrown off the raised step they were all on and sent face first onto the floor, her food flying away and her soup splashing onto the dusty ground like a meagre rainfall after a long drought. Silent and firmly, the attacking doe leant down, grabbed a metal bucket of water, and made to toss it over the humiliated doe.

Something grabbed the bucket, and in the time it took for her see who it was Judy Hopps had already returned the gallons of freezing cold liquid to sender. "Gaaaahhhh…"

Down on the floor, the white rabbit looked up to see the attacking posse backing off from a grey furred rabbit doe. A very angry grey furred rabbit doe. Her foot was thumping, her brow was furrowed, and she was staring down the bi-toned bunny as she shook and cried, clearing the water out of her eyes and shaking it out of her drenched clothes. "Who do you think you are!?"

The grey bunny folded her arms across her chest. "Judy Hopps. I think I can ask you the same question."

"I'll tell you who I am," she spoke, shaking now with rage instead of cold. "I'm an endangered harlequin rabbit! I had a boyfriend of the same species, a perfectly matched and highly desirable couple. Up until that slut _there_ ," she seethed, pointing down at the bunny on the floor. "-Took him from me. So, I was just going around telling the school about what she really is, up until another pathetically common bunny decided to thrust her nose into other mammal's business."

"Yeah," Judy said. "Except firstly, anyone picking on anyone else kind of is my business. Secondly, however much you don't like her I don't like jerks more. Thirdly, this is the best university for miles around and I'd of thought that those going to it would have grown out of petty childhood squabbles."

"Petty," she spoke. "You do realise that endangering protected species is a major crime!"

"I do," Judy replied. "But under the endangered species act there are no laws against species, endangered or otherwise, having a relationship with those they want to. _Moreover,_ the act only covers actual species, not subspecies unless specifically stated, such as with certain rhinos. Now, no bunny subspecies are counted in the act, though that wouldn't really make much difference as you aren't even a subspecies. You are just a unique colour mutation. I come from a large family, I have a cousin who looks just like you but is much nicer. So, you are nothing but a standard common run of the mill bunny, just like me, or that girl down there who you just committed felonious assault against."

"How dare you," she stomped. "You had no right to douse me with water and as for the other stuff you're just making it up."

"No, I'm remembering it from the law modules of the criminal justice degree I'm doing right now," she said, smiling a little. "As for the water, as my dad always says: sauce for the peas is sauce for the sugar snaps."

The harlequin bunny scoffed. "Typical dumb farm bunny. You do realise that it's three against two, and we're the popular ones. We'll have the whole school believing that you're both sleeping around, you both spilled my lunch and you both tossed water on me."

"Actually," Judy said, bringing up a carrot pen shaped pen, a voice recorder built in. "It's three against three." _We'll have the whole school believing that you're both sleeping around, you both spilled my lunch and you both tossed water on me._ "Now, if you all give my friend a big helping paw with some lunch money, I might not pursue this."

"Pursue it where," she spoke, desperation entering into her voice. She stood up, closed her eyes, and went all high and mighty again. "You really think that the police would bother with something as small and dumb as this?"

"Yes, I do," she spoke sincerely. "After all, their integrity is why I plan to join them…" She paused as the crowd in front of her burst down laughing.

"-Oh god, we can just tell everyone that you're a crazy bunny who wants to be a cop. It doesn't matter what you do with that recording, you'll just be too funny."

"Well, I think the school admins would care."

"…"

"It would be a shame if your academic careers here were cut super short, wouldn't it?"

There was a pause, then a growl from the lead bunny as she grabbed some bills from her pocket and tossed them on the floor. The others followed and then they marched off, stropping like toddlers told that they couldn't have dessert.

Judy picked them up before jumping down to the other bunny, standing there waiting patiently. "You okay?"

"Yes, it was nothing," she said.

"Well, I wouldn't say that," she said, turning to glower at the vanishing gang of three.

"But thanks so much for standing up for me! That was incredible."

Judy turned and smiled. "Hey, that's what I do, Miss…"

"Call me Haru," she said, smiling. She couldn't help but tremble as she did so. She looked at this bunny who'd marched in, who'd kicked bunny butt, who help herself tall and took nothing from nobody, and was in awe. "Say, do you really want to join the police?"

"Yup," Judy said, nodding. "It's been my dream ever since I was eight."

"And all this time you've been working for it?"

"Well," she said, "I've been doing exercises, learning the codes, I am doing a justice degree… If worst comes for the worst, I'll sign up to the Bunnyburrow PD."

"And if the best comes to the best?"

"Well, Zootopia will pass their Mammal Inclusion Initiative and I can train and work there," she said, a massive wide grin on her face.

Haru blushed a little, beginning to find Judy's cheerfulness just a little infectious. She had always lived and accepted that she was a rabbit, that she was small, and that, bar a few outlets, others would always see her as such. But seeing this fellow member of her species charging forward and breaking glass ceiling after glass ceiling, all while enjoying it… It was as if she was opening up a whole new path for her to follow.

"-Say, do you want to get lunch together?"

"Yes please," she chirped, only to pause. The reason why she'd been out here in the first place was due to all those inside politely declining to let her sit down next to them, all thanks to her reputation. While part of her kind of wanted the thrill of she and Judy standing up for themselves, a larger part wanted this to be quiet. "Sure. I know the perfect place to eat."

.

.

"Sweet cheese and crackers, this is like the Garden of Eden!"

"Thanks," Haru replied, smiling a bit as they walked out into the warm air and fragrant smells. Judy had been acting confused as they'd entered the main academic block, winding their way up the stairs. Little did she know what some green fingers had done to the flat roof on top of the East Wing. All around them, planters and trays were filled with all sorts of flowers and laid out in a rainbow of colours for them to enjoy. From low growing marigolds to the rising fronds of white, pink and purple foxgloves; bushes of rosemary to sweet blue and purple lavender, humming with bees; there were even trestles against the wall, covered in pretty sweet peas or green Virginia creeper, not yet rusted bronze by autumn. "I spend most of my time here. It acts as a nursery; I take what grows here out into the beds around the campus."

"It's…" Judy gasped, her head just flicking around the place. "And you say this is mostly you!?"

"Well it's mostly bunnies that join the gardening club," she explained. "But most of them are on botany courses anyway. They join when they start the year, but then they're off doing their studies on boring crops and they get farmed out. You get a little relapse coming in after teaching has stopped and everyone is gearing up for exams, just to help them destress, but it's not much. To be fair, I think I like it that way. It's peaceful up here."

Judy paused and nodded, closing her eyes and taking a breath in. She was an energetic bunny who bored quickly, but she could easily see what Haru meant by this. The sounds of the busy campus below had faded out into the background, replaced by the rustling of leaves and flowers alongside the buzzing of insects. "It is," she replied. "Living out on a farm, botany was just a thing you did in life, looking at boring plants and stuff… But this kind of gardening, I think I would like to give it a go."

"Really?" Haru gasped, smiling.

"Yeah," she said. "I mean what you've done is beautiful," she said, pausing to smile smugly as Haru blushed. "I mean, the only plants I recognise are those there." She pointed over to a pot filled with a small number of little purple crocuses. " _Midnicampum holicithius_. We use them for pest control."

"So do I," Haru said. "-though I just call them nighthowlers. Actually, that's kind of what my thesis is on. I'm studying under Professor Otterton, trying to see if raising domestic plants in close proximity to these reduces the bug take when they're put out in the wild."

"Because they're a class C botanical," Judy chimed in. "And I don't think home gardeners will want to work for the license."

"Well it's more to see if it can help save local governments gardening money," she admitted. "But it means I get to plant these and the control group all across the campus, then check up on them."

"Meaning you don't get all planted out," Judy sassed.

Haru smiled. "I mean, I've never gotten completely planted out. But last year and this year have been my biggest so far. I've almost run out of room up here. Apart from my plants, the only other things there are are the small area for exotic crops."

"Exotic crops?"

"Well, bit of a misnomer. More: big, valuable, easy to steal crops. A few pumpkins, some watermelons, some berry bushes and some wolf-apple trees; there's a few maned wolves who tend the last ones and keep the fruit. Apart from that, the only other thing is a few durian trees that came in years ago."

Judy looked over and nodded. "Yeah, I see then."

Haru smiled. "They've only recently begun producing nice sized fruits, and it would be cruel to uproot them after spending so long waiting for them to become useful."

"Yeah," Judy agreed, looking around and smiling. It truly was an incredible space that the other rabbit had made. The only thing missing was a bench and table for them to sit down at and enjoy their food.

"This way," Haru said, gesturing Judy over to a corner, the grey bunny smiling as she saw a worthy substitute. It was half shed, half greenhouse, but from the looks inside it was a perfect place to have lunch with her new friend. The pair walked over, Haru briefly pausing as she looked at one of her nighthowler tubs and swearing that a few had died, before they went in, sat down, and enjoyed their meal together.

.

.

"So, you get other mammals to pay attention to you. How?"

Judy paused to think as she reclined back on Haru's bed. The sun was hitting them through the greenhouse end of the little shelter, making the place stiflingly warm. Judy couldn't help but fan herself. "Well, I won't say it isn't hard," she began.

"I mean I know it isn't," Haru said, a hint of frustration in her voice. "I remember just walking around and getting bumped into, and everyone would drop down and ask if I was okay. I mean, sure there are other things to be annoyed about, but getting treated like a precious child your entire life… I'm a tough bunny, I can deal with it, thanks."

"Yeah, I got that too," Judy sighed. She waved her paw a bit before deciding to pull off her shirt. Haru looked on as it was raised up and over, leaving her in just a vest-like crop top. "Less though. Back in Bunnyburrow it was mostly bunnies, so there wasn't much of the 'looking down upon' from others. I think my parents must have sensed that and tried to make up for it."

"So, they coddled you?"

Judy rolled her eyes. "More like tried to persuade me to settle."

"Settle?"

" _Settle_."

"Oh right. That is a bit much from them," Haru said, a little indignantly.

Judy groaned. "Don't you believe it. I mean, okay, I should always keep my options a little open," she said, looking to Haru. "You never know when something interesting might open up, if you know what I mean."

Haru saw _that_ look from Judy, which she was pretty sure meant something good, and watched her smile as she sat in her crop top right next to her. She smiled and nodded her head back. "Kind of," she said, making sure to keep an eye on the grey doe and keep her options a little open in response. After all, she was wondering if something interesting very much was opening up. It would be new for her, but she was kind of curious, and given that it was for a new friend...

"But, at the same time, I want to try everything," Judy carried on. "Yes, I might fail, but that's no reason not to try and succeed. Heck, even if you fail you could be having a lot of fun while doing so, and you know what? This bun just wants to have fun."

The white doe looked on and smiled some more. "Well, trying everything and having fun are things we seem to have in common," she said, stretching up a bit. Her paws then made her way behind her, slowly beginning to undo the back buttons on her dress.

"Yeah," Judy agreed, nodding. "I mean, I do love my family and my home town. But it's so old fashioned in a lot of ways. They do try to be nice and modern, but if you're a mammal like me you start to feel out of place." There was a sigh as the grey doe looked up into a corner of the room while Haru nodded sadly behind her.

"I'm so sorry," she said, wondering how lonely that felt. "Trust me though, you're not out of place here."

"Ah thanks," she replied, smiling. "But it's one of the reasons why I want to go to Zootopia, not just stay at home. It's the big city, it's where anyone can be anything… And that includes me being me. Something I simply think they don't truly understand back home."

She trailed off in a sad voice as Haru nodded on. "Well don't worry, _you_ can be _you_ here too. In fact, I'll _help_ you be you." Oh, would she help. She'd been thinking it before, but now she was dead certain, and she carried on undoing the back of her dress with renewed vigour as Judy chuckled.

"Yeah, but with others you do have to stand tall and speak out loud. It's tough, as many do just see what they want to see, and it gets tiring repeating yourself to mammal after mammal, hoping that they'll react nicely to who you really are. But most do, which is nice." She yawned a bit, it really was hot in here, the glass expertly catching the evening sun. She had a pair of tight leggings on, and her fur was feeling itchy beneath. "Sorry, mind if I take these off too?"

Haru smiled. "Sure thing," she said softly, "I could help you if you want."

The grey bunny paused, shrugged and stood up. "Yeah, might as well," she said, noticing that Haru was taking a little bit of time to do it. Her fingers seemed to be trying to find the right place to pull down, massaging around her waistband as they went, which she guessed was nicer than just getting it yanked down. One of her earliest memories involved a rather harsh de-pantsing, she and her just shy of three-year-old toilet trained litter lining up in the morning as her mother took down their pyjama bottoms to inspect their night-time diapers with ruthless parental speed and efficiency. The harsh yank down on her hips and tail had made her cry, something only a hug and a gold star had helped rectify. In contrast, Haru seemed to be taking her time, pulling it over her tail and rolling it down quite pleasantly. Nothing on her tail and… -Okay, an odd flick on her tail, not sure why that was there.

"I mean, maybe I didn't try as hard as you did to stand up to others," Haru said, shrugging. "I was more around other species, all looking down and calling you cute."

"You know that non-bunnies can't call others cute?"

"Can't they?"

"Well, in Bunnyburrow, no."

Haru smiled. "I'll tell them that in the future," she said. "Might work, changing up from my other strategy."

"What strategy?" Judy asked, suddenly pausing as she felt one of Haru's paws stroke down the back of her leg. -Must have seen some fussed up fur.

"Oh, I found a way to act or behave that means mammals see you as something else than that," she said, smiling. "One that I quite enjoy, however much others shame me for it."

"Well they shouldn't shame you for it," she said, taking one leg out of the sweat logged leggings. "Just like they shouldn't call you cute."

"Even if I am cute?"

"Which you are," Judy said, smiling. "But they can't call you that. Of course, I can."

"And I can call you cute too?"

Judy blushed a bit; she wasn't what most bunnies would traditionally call cute, so getting the compliment from a very cute doe like Haru did mean something. "Thanks…" she said, smiling as she fully stepped out of the leggings. "You should try it. Try everything, right?"

"Right," Haru said, now slipping off her dress, revealing her laced panties and bra.

"And maybe I'll try your method too," Judy said, sending Haru's heart rate through the roof.

"Maybe we can try it right now?"

Judy shrugged. "Sure, why not," she said, turning around to face the almost nude white doe.

Before she even had time to work out whether she should shout Holy-Frith or sweet turnips and beets, Haru's arms were around her. One gripped her rear, squeezing in and pinching her tail, while the other cradled the back of her head. Both drew her in and over, the pair rolling onto the bed, their lips embraced. Haru kissed and licked and nipped and sucked, her eyes closed in pleasure, before she let go.

Looking into the other doe's amethyst eyes, Haru realised that she wasn't going to say that _trying everything was fun_ as she'd planned to do. Instead she paused, wondering why Judy was looking like her brain had just flicked to the blue screen of death.

"Judy?"

"Haru…?"

"Yes."

"What-the-carrot-picking-sweet-cheese-and-crackering-turnip-patching-bean-polling-dill-pickling-where's-the-beefing-are-you-doing!?"

Haru blinked and then frowned. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Judy blinked a few times, before bouncing right out of their bed and crashing to the floor, right onto her tail. The pain only briefly distracted her, her focus instead on getting away from that crazy bunny doe. She glanced around, terrified, before crawling backwards right into a wall. "What is wrong with you!?"

"What's wrong with me?" Haru asked, standing up on the bed.

"Yes!"

"What do you mean what's wrong with me?" She frowned, fisted paws going onto her hips. "Maybe I should be asking what's wrong with you?"

Judy, covering her crotch and chest with her paws, looked back slack jawed. "What's wrong with me!?"

"You come in her and start stripping off, giving me knowing looks, all while talking about how your parents wanted you to live a certain way. How you wanted to escape your rural upbringing, and the fact that they didn't really understand who you were, instead wishing to go to the big city to find people just like you. You kept on saying that you wanted to try everything and have fun, while asking me to help undress you, all while going on about how tiring it was to keep on coming out over and over and how nice it was to finally find a like-minded mammal. I mean, I don't think I'm bi, but try everything right? I was curious and looking forward to my first time with a female, a doe at that, and wanted to make you feel truly loved and cared for. And then you what… have a relapse back into your upbringing's prudish ways while killing the mood with your potty mouth. Maybe this is hard for you, but you could have at least made up your mind before you started flirting with me."

…

"Eh…" Judy chirped, before quivering, then groaning, then having her face collapse into her paws in an avalanche of humiliation. "Ohhhhhhh sweeeeetttt cheeeesssseeeeee….."

"Judy?"

"I am not into does!"

Haru's head tilted as she looked at her. "Then what was all that about?"

"This was me talking about how my parents wanted me to give up on my dream of being a cop!" Judy said in frustration, paws out and clutching the air. "And me taking my clothes off because it's hot in here."

"It's a greenhouse," Haru said. "Of course it's hot."

"I KNOW!" she said, standing up and walking over to get her shirt. "That's why I was taking those things off!"

"I…" the bunny said, before one ear dipped. "I may have misread your confusing signals."

"May have!?"

"I…" she began, before sighing. She grabbed a pillow and pulled off the case, wrapping it like a toga around her as she walked up to Judy. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm sorry I misread you, I…" she began, before closing her eyes and looking away. "Please don't leave. I don't want this to mean that we can't be friends. I want you as a friend."

Shirt on, Judy paused, sighing as she hopped up onto the bed and pulled the covers up over her lower half. "Was I really that confusing?"

"Yes."

"And you thought it was all natural."

"I did. I'm sorry."

"It's just… Well, I suppose it is a rabbit stereotype," Judy mumbled. "Maybe all other bunnies than me are like this and I'm the screw up."

"Hey, don't say that," Haru said. "I'm just used to a lot of mammals, very few of them bunnies, acting in a certain way. I just misread you."

"Right," Judy mumbled, before pausing. "Including a certain Harlequin bunny's…"

"I…" Haru began, before mumbling. "I may have slept with him."

"Which makes that doe's still indefensible actions a bit more understandable," Judy pondered. "I… Do you do this often?"

"Remember when I said that there was one thing I could do that made others look at me like I wasn't just some cute thing. That I enjoyed and did, even if others hated me for it? I sleep around with a lot of boys, and if mammals turn up here, alone, it tends to be for that."

"And you…" Judy began, her nose twitching and one ear drooping.

She shrugged. "We have a nice time."

"Cool," she remarked. "I guess…"

"You're okay with it?"

"Well, I'm fine with you being into girls."

"-I'm not, actually," Haru clarified. "But I thought that you were, and with all this talk of trying everything…"

Judy guffawed a little. "Yeah, try everything."

Haru nodded. "Sorry we got off on the wrong foot.

"Me too."

The grey bunny doe smiled a little, before suddenly looking away, frowning. "When you said I was cute… Did you really mean it?"

"You are cute," she said. "A different kind of cute, but still cute. Like comparing two different flavours of ice-cream. Both can be very nice, but they're different."

Judy smiled. "Thanks."

Haru nodded, then stepped down to grab the bunny's leggings. "Here," she said, sighing. "Guess we won't be trying everything today."

Judy took them before pausing, noticing that the white doe's ears were drooping. "Say, you really were looking forward to that, weren't you?"

"Yeah, out of curiosity," Haru replied.

Judy nodded and then paused, thinking. A lot of her was still nervous, and there was no great hot-blooded urge. But… Well, there was a slight curiosity. She put on her leggings and shirt and then flopped down in front of Haru, her eyes looking up.

"-Judy?"

The grey bunny shrugged. "Hey? Try everything, right?"

The white doe paused, thinking for a second, before smiling. "Try everything," she said, leaning down to pet her ears. She held up the tips of both and kissed them, before working down the insides, all while Judy, not sure what else to do, began massaging Haru's tail to her great pleasure. Soon Judy's shirt came off again and, standing up, they replayed the pulling down of the leggings. Judy turned around, was gripped in the same places and pulled back onto the bed where she was kissed like before. This time she kissed back, this time they went on.

.

.

.

The air was hot and warm, smelling sickly, as the two buns relaxed on the bed. Haru had brought out some sheets of kitchen roll and was cleaning up, while Judy stared up at the ceiling. "Sorry about that."

Haru shrugged. "If anything, it's me who should be sorry, you certainly entertained me."

Judy chuckled, looking over. "Try everything, right."

"Try everything."

"Yeah," she said, sighing. "But I think I now know when to quit."

"When I've done it twice and you have to look up images on your phone to get over the final hurdle."

Judy groaned and looked away. "Lesbun I am not."

"There's no shame in that," Haru said. "Just like there's no shame in what I do."

"Nope," she said, looking over and smiling. "Thanks for putting up with me though. Friend."

Haru smiled back. "Friend."

Judy groaned and stood up, slowly putting her clothes back on. "Given that I'll be coming here to do gardening, when is this open?"

"Oh, all days of the week."

Judy nodded. "Well, I'm trying out for the acting society too, so that rules out Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's. But the T and S days sound good to."

"They do," Haru said, smiling.

Her clothes on, Judy pulled out her phone, gasping at the time. "Yikes, it's that late? What have I missed…"

"Oh, nothing much," Haru noted, shrugging. She carried on getting her dress on, noting that a few plants needed watering, before turning around to get the can. She froze though as she spotted Judy, her face aghast as she looked at her phone. "Judy. Did we miss anything."

The grey doe trembled and then looked her way. "A murder… There's been a murder."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .  
> .  
> AN: Dun-Dun-Duuuunnnnn... There's been... A slight change around with the order of events.  
> .  
> Next chapter, we see the aftermath, as well as introducing our favorite rhinoceros beetle. (Oh, and a random wolf and fox too).  
> Updates will come... Whenever. So, like, subscribe, comment and stay pawsome!


	2. A Taste of the Savage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So it seems this fic is popular. So, with plenty of new free time suddenly on my hand, I guess I'll be carrying it on too. Many thanks to the guys at the Zootopia Authors Association for helping to proof this.
> 
> If any of you enjoy my style, I have two other big fics going on atm. The first is my drabbles and oneshots compilation, which involves a bunch of random plot bunnies and (often humorous and/or fluffy) patreon stories. The second is a major multi-IP crossover series, primarily featuring Zootopia, Fantastic Mr Fox and Aggretsuko. It's called 'Fantastic Foxes of Zootopia' and is episodic in nature. The whole thing is up together as one fic on fanfic (though the critical to read prequel, 'Different', is separate) and broken up into the various episodes on A03.
> 
> Anyway, check those out if they sound interesting but, for now, it's on with the show.

**.**

.

"So, did you hear that Tem is dead?"

Legoshi sighed as he said it, looking down closer at the little plastic terrarium. His eyes lingered on the tiny jet-black rhinoceros beetle that stood inside, its chitin plated joints slowly moving in and out as it moved. Calmly, the massive wolf, his back-fur almost a greyish blue in shade, lowered his paw in and outstretched a finger. The difference in size was laughable in its ridiculousness; the pad on the finger he used to pet it was probably three times its size.

"They say he was found in the auditorium, his throat bitten out. It was a predator who did it, almost certainly…"

"Huh… You probably don't know what that means. I mean, in beetle terms you're a rhinoceros beetle. We have rhino's too; did you know that? Just like you, they're big and they have a horn, and they're tough. They're prey mammals, herbivores, so they eat plants but they're about the biggest toughest thing you can find. Are there any insects your size that could eat you up, Kabu-Chan?"

…

"No, I thought not. Maybe a scorpion can get you. We don't really have anything like that. I guess a polar bear could rip out a rhino's throat, but one likes it super hot and the other super cold, they don't tend to meet much. It would be okay if all prey mammals were like rhino's, but they're not. Tem was an alpaca… He was my friend…"

…

"I miss him, already. But I kind of feel guilty, too."

…

"Let me explain. I'm a predator, which means that thousands of years ago my kind used to eat other mammals. We don't anymore, well except in cases like poor Tem, but we're still built to do it. I'm a wolf, a grey wolf, a very big and tall grey wolf; so that means I'm like a huge praying mantis with long arms and a weird looking head on top, and it means others are scared at me as I'm good at killing and hunting smaller prey mammals, like a mantis is for butterflies and such…"

…

"Really? That's what you ask. No Kabu-Chan. I am not going to get my head bitten off by a she-wolf. -That's not because I haven't found someone to do it yet with, either! I mean, I haven't, but I will, hopefully, soon…"

…

"Right, let me get back on topic. You see, us pred and prey get along… But prey still fear us preds, us big preds, especially a big scary wolf like me. I've got ugly scary fangs and claws, so I have to put a lot of work in to keep them all hidden, and to not scare anyone. It gets tiring, but it's what I have to do. I'm scary enough as it is. And, normally, it works. Not very well, but it works… But if they fear that a predator went crazy, they start fearing us even more. They start fearing me even more. And I get worried as I don't like that, I don't like being something that other's fear. Because of that though, I feel guilty. Tem is the one who died, the one who was murdered, but here I am thinking about myself and how other's see me rather than my friend, and it feels so selfish."

…

"Right. Yes, I do."

…

"Okay. Thanks, Kabu-Chan," he said, letting the beetle back into his home. He placed the terrarium back into the storage space in his capsule like bunk before opening the curtain and stepping out. He'd got some flowers and he picked them up. They weren't that pretty, but they were the ones Tem liked, he'd seen him snacking on them a few times.

"-Going to see Tem?"

"HUH!" Legoshi yelped, spinning on the spot. The curtain in the bunk above him opened up and the blonde canine face of his friend Jack peeked out. "How long were you there for!?"

"All the time."

"Why didn't you say?"

"You never asked."

"So you let me spill out my heart and soul to Kabu-Chan, and you just listened?"

"Does it make any differences?"

"Y-Yes it does!"

Jack swung himself out of his bunk. "Okay, maybe it does. Maybe it does as I can say this. Relax, it's fine, we're going through a rough spot but we'll handle it Legoshi. And nobody is scared or hating on you. You hear?"

Legoshi rolled his eyes. "That's easy for you to say." It was. Despite arguably being the same species, interbreeding was perfectly possible, Jack's golden fur, small size and happy looking face made him look like a little lamb's best friend, not their worst nightmare.

"Maybe you should try saying it too, just saying. Relax, take it easy, go to that party that's happening tonight with me and have fun."

"Right," Legoshi nodded, not convinced. "I'll try. Any other advice?"

"Sir Beetly is a much better name than Kabu-Chan."

"Hey, if you find a beetle you get to name him. That's the deal, same as last time."

"Right," Jack said. "I'll be on the lookout then for a worthy successor to General Wasabi."

"As you do," Legoshi replied, before picking up his flowers and stepping out. It wasn't a long walk to the small shrine, but he couldn't help but think that everyone was watching him as he went. He wished he could shrink down, vanish his claws and teeth, and to just blend in like a meek prey could. Be like Tem was…

Even though he'd died.

Even though he'd struggled for a month or two to post a love letter to his crush. Legoshi remembered catching him hesitating over it, again. That had been yesterday. Today he'd found the copy and handed it over. She said that she would have said yes.

.

* * *

.

Judy and Haru were already down at the little shrine that had been laid out. The white doe was still in shock, the grey doe was too, but her keen eyes and interest in criminal justice were already at play. Tem, the alpaca, had been running down this corridor last night. She looked back to the stairs and could imagine him leaping down them, five at a time, before skidding on the floor tiles. A look over, and she could swear that there were some scuff marks there, keratin on ceramic as he swung himself around and raced towards the entrance to one of the lecture halls.

His attacker must have arrived at the bottom of the stairs at that very second, the fleeing mammal's head snapping back to look at him. Distracted, he forgot about where he was going, smashing shoulder first into the doors. It had wounded him, cost him a few seconds, maybe it was what had let the attacker catch up to him not too far beyond.

And now he was gone. All that was left was the cracked-up doors, covered in two lines of police tape, now an impromptu shrine for their dead friend. At its base, someone had put up a framed picture of him, the item soon attracting gifts of flowers, candles, bottles of soft drinks (for some reason) and cards. It took on a solemn affair as Judy and Haru approached it.

They didn't know him well. Still, they bent down and put in place a few bundles of flowers that they'd picked, silent throughout the ritual.

Judy's ears rose up, and she suppressed a shiver as a massive wolf stepped up next to them. She had nothing against wolves, of course. But he was huge, not thick built like usual but exceptionally tall and lanky, his presence dominating the room. She stepped away respectfully, noticing Haru's nose twitch a little.

Best to let him pay his respects in peace, Judy thought. They walked back to the bottom of the stairs, yet her ears couldn't help but pick up on what he was saying. " _-I told her your feelings_ ," he spoke softly. Judy wondered what it was about, only to be cut off by the hoof beats of a herd of mammals coming down the steps. She watched them, all prey mammals, primarily woollen ones like sheep, clop down and approach the shrine. They held back from the wolf, an awkward tension filling the air. He didn't notice them at first, but as one sheep stepped forwards, he glanced back, his ears drooping as he spotted them.

"Ooohhh, excuse us please," the lead sheep, a dwarf ewe with round glasses said pleasantly enough.

The wolf nodded and then looked forward. "Just want to spend a bit of time here. I'll be going, shortly."

"Listen," she said, smiling as she stepped up to him. "He might have been your friend, he might not have. But many of us knew him, and we want to mourn him in peace…" Judy's brow furrowed, as she filled in what was unsaid.

The wolf's ears lowered too. "I just want…"

"A lot of us are very scared right now," she carried on. "Now, I'm not saying that you did it, but prey are scared of predators right now. I think it would be thoughtful if you kept that in mind, and gave us some space to mourn without worry."

At that point, Judy crossed her arms and stepped forward. "He can't help being born a wolf, you know," she spoke harshly, the ewe turning up to face her.

"Oh, hi, waiting for your turn too?"

"We've just been."

"Oh, right," she spoke, smiling. "Dawn. Dawn Bellwether."

"Judy Hopps," she introduced, Haru doing likewise.

"Ah, well," the ewe said, adjusting her glasses a little in an endearing display. "I was just leading my fellow concerned students to give their condolences after a terrible murder of one of their kind. -They're really scared and nervous, you see. And I mean the wolf here may not be able to help being born a wolf. But we can't help being worried too, given what's going on. I mean, I'm just asking the scary mammals to be a bit more thoughtful of others, in the same way that big ones have to be thoughtful of small ones. If they all thought that they could act the same, who knows how bad it would be. I'm just asking him to show the same level of thoughtfulness."

"I…" Judy began, only to pause. She didn't agree with it, but she couldn't really find the right words to rebuke her. Moreover, she felt that if she said 'that's just wrong' or something to that effect, the ewe would just smile and give another saccharine sweet but secretly bitter argument, winning the debate even more. It was at moments like this, as the wolf sighed and began retreating away, tail between his legs, that Judy wished that her secondary interest was debating, not acting.

Still, maybe it was better to make a fool of herself than not stand up for what was right. Thankfully, it didn't come to that, as a new player entered the game. One met with rounds of gushing and amazement, a whole gaggle of students in awe simply because of his presence.

"It's Louis!"

"Louis is here!"

"The star of _Adler_."

Judy's head snapped over to face him, her eyes widening with immediate recognition. She'd been planning to join the drama club for a while now, so it was natural that she knew who its head was. But even if she didn't, she'd have seen him from the many posters of his play, 'Adler the Reaper', that were up across the campus. She'd have known him from the gossip, from the pictures, from the chatter, from the simple fame.

He was a lean built red deer buck, his comparative lack of muscles around the chest (compared to others of his species) doing nothing to detract from his looks. If anything, it helped him, making him look more refined, more authoritative and decidedly more regal. He strolled in, standing tall, his imperial crown of fourteen tines on full display, while the fur around his head and throat was close clipped, the lines of his jaw prominent. He walked up briskly, the way he wore his jacket making him the epitome of dapper, passing by the sheep and nodding before kneeling down reverently by the wolf. His actions were smooth, even down to how he closed his eyes and dipped his head as he placed the bouquet amongst the pile. It was as if he were placing a ring of poppies down at the cenotaph.

He knelt by the wolf, the canine turning his head to watch him.

.

…

"What are you staring at?" he asked, beginning to stand up. "Is being rude a habit?"

The wolf choked up a bit, the sheep stepping up to agree. "I think it is. I asked if he could leave us in peace to mourn and…"

"I don't remember specifying that it was a wolf," he spoke, the ewe freezing in place. Judy couldn't help but smile a little as he rose to his full height, absolutely dominating her. "If there is any act that unifies mammals in its commonality, I'd have thought it would be the pain of loss and the need to mourn, wouldn't you?"

"Uh…" she choked. "Well yes, but…"

"Our society was founded upon the unity and peace between species," he spoke out, not just to her, but to the wolf, Dawn's crowd, Judy and Haru and even those in the corridor. Judy looked down it only to pause as she spotted one mammal at the front. A fox, carrying a tray filled with bundles of wildflowers, selling them for half a buck each. Her nose almost twitched at the apparent profiteering from the tragedy, and as he rolled his eyes at Louis' speech, a speech seemingly in his aid, it passed the threshold. "-And in hard times like this it is vital that we hold those precious bonds tighter and harder than ever before."

"Or maybe given the circumstances we shouldn't be so blinded by the past," the ewe spoke, finding her voice. "I mean, peace between species sounds nice, but one side just broke it and the other is scared for their lives. Shouldn't we accept some slack, so they don't break entirely?"

"But how much?" he spoke, looking down at her. "And who's to say that once you release them a bit, they're never tightened, and not long after they're slipped again and again until they loosen, breaking. If those bonds break then a tragedy like this one may become an everyday occurrence, mammals only becoming loyal to their own kind and not each other. Is that the kind of legacy that Tem would want? He was my friend, and I can say that it certainly isn't."

"I'm not saying let them go," she clarified, her brow knitting. "That's a strawmammal argument and you know it. I'm just saying you should adjust it to be more accommodating of the weaker kind, the stronger accepting some sacrifices for the greater good. They already have it better, they fear life and danger less while we do more. I think it sounds pretty fair that they sacrifice some of that in the name of true equality."

Louis smiled. "You have an interesting definition of equality. I'd be curious to know who or how you'd measure it, who or how you'd work out which level of sacrifice others need to make, who or how you'd define who is weak and who is strong."

"Well I happen to think all those things are obvious."

"And I consider them relative," he spoke. "You define them in your favour, paint yourselves as the weaker, and you create a society in which you've given yourselves the power, made you the stronger and them the weaker. By your own logic then, they'll have the right to flip the boat again and again and again. Throwing us all off of it until we're at each other's throats, all those previous other bonds broken and forgotten. That is why we must hold on to that one absolute, species cooperation, above all else."

There was a pause, before the crowd in the corridor began clapping and cheering him, the deer taking a little bow as his name was called out again and again. "Louis, Louis, Louis…"

Judy cheered too, only for that cheer to fade as she saw the fox again, rolling his eyes even further with a look of disdain on his muzzle.

Dawn huffed as the deer stood up, gazing to the wolf. "Legoshi, you're in the art department, correct?"

He nodded.

"Good, follow me, we have something to discuss."

Judy did too, but not with them.

.

* * *

.

Louis was beginning to get annoyed.

Tem was dead, it was a tragedy, but life moved on. Always ticking, always flowing, powerful, unstoppable, like a tidal current. You couldn't fight it, you could only float with it, all while doing everything in your power to keep the raft that you were on tied together. Letting it fall and break apart was unthinkable.

You had to be strong.

You had to have your dignity.

Above everything, anything, else.

It was something that others didn't truly grasp, though he felt no anger or shame at them. There was only one kind of way that one could learn something like that, he'd been through it as a fawn and he'd once met someone who'd been through it as a kit. He would not wish it upon anyone.

What he did wish though was that this meeting would go to plan. It was simple enough, Legoshi would meet the new actor playing Tem's old part. Though personally involved in lighting, he and the art department also covered costumes, and he needed to help get the measurements correct.

All good so far.

Yet when he'd tried to practice a line with the actor, he'd gone blank. Plenty of time to learn the script, but none taken. Being a goat, it quickly became clear that the script had been lost, though not in the misplaced sense. Extreme omnivorous wasn't a noteworthy trait in Louis' books, and he'd hoped that the actor in question would have picked some others up, to become at least respectable. In contrast, the goat's planned part would have him acting alongside Bill, a tiger. A strong, powerful mammal whose simple presence earned respect. More than that though, Bill was a bit cocky, a bit of a maverick, the bio-med student all too happy to reach out wider than his assigned frame. He also learnt his lines.

And, as if to round this all off, there was a smack on the door as Kai, a mongoose, barged in, demanding to know why it was the goat replacing Tem, not himself. "Tem and I were the last in the audition!" he shouted, angrily.

"Knock first," Louis scolded, as he stared over at him and let the goat go. "Go outside, learn your lines," he said, dismissing him. He ran out, closing the door behind him, as the deer squared off against the angry herpestid. The intruder stared back, before glancing to his side and scoffing.

"Hey. Why are you here? You're a nobody from the art department," he said, looking down at the grey wolf, immediately evaporating any sympathy that the goat's poor performance had given Louis for his arguments. In fact, they even gave him an excellent idea.

"Yeah," the wolf sighed, weakly. "I'll leave too, then."

"No, you can stay here," Louis spoke, looking at him and wondering just why he was rolling over like that. He was a grey wolf, wasn't he? Up against a tiny mongoose too. Then again, Legoshi had always hung back in the shadows, trying not to be seen. It was sadly pathetic. Louis didn't say that. Instead, he then turned to face the mongoose. "Kai, you need to make sure that you get along with Legoshi. You'll be working together in the art department."

"Huh…?" he said, his jaw dropping to the floor as Louis carried on regardless.

"-You'll no longer serve as an actor," he said, as the shock turned to rage. "From now on, you'll be in the art department and support us from backstage." He felt a little impressed by Kai's resistance and he felt that the mammal did deserve a full explanation. "The spring performance act 2 footwork, the winter safari tournament's final dance," he spoke, his mouth ever so slightly twitching up as a fantastic look of fury took over Kai. "Those references are like a blade in your heart," he spoke, the smile growing. "Right, Kai? Two years of acting, and your most memorable performances were those two blunders on stage. Not very good in terms of crowning achievements." Oh, the mongoose looked ready to explode right now, and Louis was curious, if not excited. Just where might this lead up to. Might he be impressed with what Kai did next? He had the knife in, so he twisted it. "With all that, I am curious. Why, exactly, did you think that you could replace Tem?"

And then Louis looked on in impressed curiosity as the mongoose snarled and leapt at him, claws out.

And then he looked on in shock as a massive pair of grey paws gripped him mid-flight. Legoshi caught, Kai fought, and they ended up in a tense standoff. "Actor's safety comes first," the wolf spoke darkly. "That's the job of us stagehands, isn't it?" Kai growled; Legoshi stared him down. "Kai. He's the star."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he hissed.

Louis looked on in amazement as Legoshi's lips withdrew, his fur raised, and a deep and guttural growl emanated from deep within his chest. The wolf was revealing itself, and Kai's bluster and anger melted away. "Uhhhh…" he spoke, worry overcoming his voice. "T-this is just foolish. I'll let it go this time!"

Legoshi wordlessly dropped him, Kai backing off worried. Louis was enraptured as he tried to gather some strength or high ground, just humiliating himself in the process. "Must be nice to be rich," he spoke. "Nobody ever harms you…" Worthless words, and then he was scooting out of the room, some commotion coming from the other side.

A wordless smile filled the room, and the deer looked at the wolf in a new light. "Using your fangs to scare him out of a fight," he mused, smiling. He was impressed, if not pleased for the wolf's sake. "You always acted like a herbivore," he observed, folding his arms in front of him. "But it's nice to see that you do have some savagery in you."

And then the wolf dropped down again, losing it. "Excuse me," he spoke, beginning to step forward. Louis grabbed his tail, making him freeze and look back. Still meek, what was there before gone, which was a shame. But he had stood out and Louis figured that, for his sake, he deserved a chance and some help.

"Excellent," he said, "I think you'll fit right in. We need to give him a proper rehearsal, so we'll be sneaking into the theatre later tonight."

Legoshi's eyes widened. "But if we're caught…"

" _That's_ why you're going to be our lookout," he explained, smiling. It would do him some good to push him out of his comfort zone. Very far out, if his looks were anything to go by. "What's wrong, planning to play the meek good guy again?" He remained unconvinced, and Louis leant forward and grabbed him by his tie, pulling him in. "You're a wolf," he spoke, deciding to spell it out for him. "Act like one, give us a taste of the savage and give yourself some prestige for a change."

Legoshi backed off a bit, still unconvinced. "I… Well I said I'd be…"

"Going to the party tonight?" Louis asked. "Sure, fine, you can go there for an hour or two, then meet up with us. Just limit what you drink and do it at the start, so you're functional when we need to. Do not let us down, understand?"

"Yes," he said, nodding and stepping out.

.

* * *

.

Haru had to go off to tend to her plants, leaving Judy to find the fox in question. She eventually spotted him with a cooler of all things, selling frozen treats to those nearby. A tearful hyeness had just purchased the remaining stock, the fox appearing to give some words of comfort as she munched on the little treats. Still, it seemed that the profit he'd made was still the main thing affecting his mood.

She stepped up to him as the hyena stepped away. "Ooooh, sorry there," he said, looking down at her. "Miss Charlotte there just purchased all of them. But I'll be here tomorrow, same time, same place, same treats."

Judy's eyes narrowed. "Do you know that it's illegal to sell your produce on private property without express permission?"

The fox looked at her and his eyes narrowed, digging into his pocket to pull out a signed document. "Express permission from the head of the business school," he spoke. "Now, if you're no longer busy sticking your nose into my business, I'll be on my way."

"Maybe if you get out of the business of profiting from others grief, I'll be too."

He paused, crossing his arms. "So, I guess that after you're done with me, you'll go after every florist, funeral home, culinary business that can be booked for wakes and, lest we forget, every place of worship that lets you buy those little candles that you can light."

"That's not the same and you know it," Judy scolded. "You parked up right by his shrine, selling stuff, taking advantage of their grief."

"Hey," he barbed back. "I think you'll find that I was offering simple bouquets at affordable prices. Again, if I wasn't there, I don't think you'd be going after your nearest florist. Besides, not every one of us can get stuff from Haru's garden."

"-Huh… -How do you know her name?"

"I know everyone, Fluff."

"Do not call me Fluff."

"Okay then, Carrot's," he said, waving her off. Her foot thumped hard into the floor. "I mean, let's face it, the only reason you're after me is because I'm a _snekky_ foxxo, am I right?" he said whimsically.

Judy gasped, her brow then furrowing. "Not it is not…"

"-I mean, when that sheep and Louis did something far more disrespectable, no shame on them?" he said, smiling a little.

"Yeah, about that," she spoke. "What's up with you and Louis. He's on your side."

Nick guffawed a little. "Yeah. Probably."

"So why are you against him then?" she asked, verging more into confusion than anything. "He was defending all predators, as a prey, during what could be a bad time for you. He's a good guy."

"Yeah, because he chose your side."

"I… -Well, duh," she said. "That's what makes him a good guy."

"No, no, no…" Nick waved off. He'd finally packed up his things and began walking away. "Do you remember what his arguments were?"

"He talked about how starting to divide us would mean we'd turn on each other, breaking society further and further apart, and so we needed to put our all into it."

"So, using the slippery slope fallacy to justify blind ideological obedience."

"To our side!"

"To a side," he pointed out. "He could have just as easily picked any other, Fluff. He didn't argue with reason or data or anything. Heck, most students there were convinced simply because he is Louis, just look at him! He's a proto-politician Carrots, a little ideologue who'll chase his ideals to the ends of the earth whatever the cost and never ever waver. Maybe he's on our side, but he could have easily been on the other and still be the same mammal. Heck, go back ninety years and our stag in the forest running free could have happily been that first singer from the end of Cabaret, you and all his posse being the young idealists standing up to join in."

"I'll presume that that reference isn't flattering," she muttered. "But you're scoffing at him because he believes in something, because he holds himself tall. So, who are you then, what's your virtuous path?"

"Oh, I'm the old guy who's had enough of it before it's begun and is just sitting there with his drink," he shrugged.

"And is that a good, mature outlook on life?" she questioned.

"I like to think that history vindicated him, Carrot's."

"Just ignore that," she muttered. "You're saying that the good thing is to ignore any value in anything because everything's worthless. Don't hold any idea strongly, don't take an interest in the outside world, scoff at those that do and instead just look after number one, making as much money as you can."

He looked back at her and smiled. "Hey, there you go! Not a dumb bunny, are we?"

She frowned, her nose twitching. "Don't call me that."

"I didn't," he pointed out, as Judy halted where she stood.

"You know, you think that you're so mature, don't you? But you're not. You're childish, and if you put your mind to it you could be so much more."

"You know, I was like you once," he spoke, turning back. "Emotional and unstable. I grew out of it and I learnt the truth. Here I am, born a fox, so everyone will always see me as sneaky and untrustworthy. After all, why did you come after me?"

"I… It wasn't because you were a fox," she said. "We've been over this."

"Yeah, and you're in denial. Listen, I'm a fox, so I act like a fox, that's the way society expects you to act and it'll kick back if you try something else. You can only be what you are: Sly fox, and thing you don't want me to say. But, if you can play it right, you can fit into your role just fine. Heck, I'm currently here on a three-year mega hustle, or as they call it 'an all paid scholarship'. Three years of room and board and a fancy bit of paper I can brag about after, yes please. Now, if you don't mind me, I'll be on my way."

Judy looked at him as he went. "You know, thinking like that is terribly sad. I was angry at you before, but now I think I pity you."

"Hey, don't overthink it fluff," he said, turning back and winking. "I mean, Haru does the bunny version of this, and as far as I know she's having a whale of a time. See-ya!"

And then he turned a corner and went, leaving Judy standing there. Her foot thumped against the floor before she cleared her head. "Urghhh… What a sad mammal."

.

* * *

.

And so that night rolled around. Haru was tending to some of her plants while Judy went back to her dorm to start on some coursework. Louis was busy rehearsing his lines while thinking everything through, hoping that the new actor was doing the same. Off at one end of the campus, a nervous Legoshi dropped in to a party, explaining that he needed to go in a bit. He tried a few drinks, especially when a few of the acting society guys turned up, before letting the funk fade away as the time approached. Haru was busy doing some final bits of gardening by one of the dorms, for fun and not for work, but the appearance of a certain bunny again kicked things off. Some pretty flowers were kicked in, she stood up and scolded her, the bunny and her posse knocking her down and into the bed, given that she didn't have 'her latest fling' to help her out.

Haru stood up and walked forwards into them so that their own clothes would get filthy, before being knocked to the floor again. "Mine were already dirty," she dismissed, before marching off to the showers.

Legoshi left the party. He was regretting going to it, he had a headache. Still, he wasn't given much choice, was he? He'd promised Jack and then Louis had sprung this on him, and neither was the kind of mammal you'd turn down an offer from.

They met up as planned at the back of the theatre, the two actors going in while he stood guard outside. It was foggy, the fountain in the centre barely visible, but the mist was lit up by the moon. The full moon.

Legoshi felt something grow inside of him. Something deep, stirring, powerful. He closed his eyes and glanced away. It was stupid, after all.

But his eyes traced back and looked up, and he felt it grow. Powerful, alluring, controlling, demanding. He felt it taking over him and he only just stopped himself.

"Stop it," he hissed to himself. "You're a mammal, not some dumb animal."

After all, howling out at the moon was a sure way to get them all caught. He focussed his mind elsewhere, keeping a lid on that strange and powerful instinct. It worried him, it was coming from nowhere, it was new…

He closed his eyes and rubbed his head again. He was feeling off in a very strange way. He wanted to slip out into the night, to sift through and find something…

He was hungry.

Meanwhile, Haru left one of the shower blocks. She'd been caught on the wrong side of the campus to her dorm, so after showering she was taking the trek over. It was cold and dark, despite the new moon. She had to rely on her ears, though even they struggled to pick stuff up. After the murder, most mammals were inside, leaving the outside eerily quiet. She closed her eyes and walked on, skirting past the library. She looked inside to see a red fox at one of the computers, before carrying on. It would be fine. Her ears lifted as she heard something, running water. A fountain, the fountain behind the theatre. She smiled, she was almost home.

Inside, Louis was going through the ropes. He was impressed, the new actor was picking it up. They were going back and forth in the dark room. A few times they'd bumped into each other, given that neither had good night vision. But they were building up a rapport.

Just outside, Legoshi was trying to stay focussed. He was hungry, starving, he could feel his claws trying to extend even though they couldn't and it felt good…

He sniffed in and smelt something.

Rabbit.

Bunny.

Food.

_'-No, what the hell!'_ He thought, shaking his head. But his stomach rumbled, and he glanced at the moon, and he felt his vision blur and his mouth salivate as something powerful and ancient washed through him, taking control. Down on all fours, he growled. He had to swallow down all the saliva that his teeth, his hanging, untested, unblooded teeth, were getting coated in. They wanted to bite, to chew, to feel the catharsis of being stretched and exercised in his mouth as he dug into something warm and hot and bloody. He glanced up, the moon was there, calling him. He was trembling, a last vestigial part trying to hold back, but it was like staying in misery when glory was just there waiting for him.

Tempting.

But it was wrong…

But it was right…

It was right…

It was so very, very right, and he was hungry, and he was growling and then turning and then sniffing in that intoxicating scent before jumping out, letting his instincts take control. He was hunting, he was hunting and the blood was pumping through him, coursing with adrenaline; he felt alive. He pounced as he saw her running away: bunny, prey, a person, food, a fellow student, dinner, an innocent.

He hit her hard and felt himself roll over and over across the stone paving as he clutched her. He sat there, holding her tight, pressing her head up against his muzzle as the quiet of the night flowed back in and his instincts fought a battle of life and death inside of him.


	3. Predatory Instinct

.

.

Legoshi's mouth watered and his deep instincts were seducing him to feast, but his brain was telling him… begging him… Leave her. No, eat her. Leave, eat, leave, eat, leave, eat… Saliva still dripped from his mouth, her scent was still sugar on his nose, but he could hear their hearts beat. His powerfully thumping like a pounding hammer. Hers desperately beating as if it had nothing left to live for.

She didn't, he thought, as he looked at his prey.

She might have, part of him screamed from deep down. She might be like Tem, have a love unconfessed and friends and all that. She was warm, and so small, her slight struggles were felt in his arms as her moist breath made them wet.

Her fur was soft, and under it meat…

-STOP.

He closed his eyes as the agonizing stalemate in him carried on. What should he do?

The hunger panged again, and something called out. He could imagine it, his instincts. He was a wolf, act like one, live like one. Stop struggling, like you've done for your entire life, and embrace it. He could feel his mind crackle as they walked up and took control.

"Go away," he ordered. "Stop it!"

He was a wolf; he'd struggled all his life because he was a wolf. But what they said wasn't true, he couldn't make it true, it couldn't be true.

But maybe he'd been suppressing it for so long, living in the darkness his entire life, that he didn't know. To be a modern wolf was sad, frustrating…

"Stop!" he begged.

Or maybe neither was right. This was how it was. He could feel joy from the bottom of his heart if he…

"No…" he whimpered, "stop."

 _'Look at yourself'_ , it ordered. _'Face yourself. Don't look away, I'm growing bigger in you! Bigger! Can you feel it, can you see!?'_

"I won't look," he spoke, trying to stare ahead, his mouth quivering. "Go away… Get lost! I'm not you!"

 _'Oh, but you are,'_ it told him as he whimpered in anguish. ' _The fun part is only just starting_.' He could feel her in his arms, trembling and warm and scared. But the beast inside felt like a giant monster of a wolf, proud and hungry, ready for it. _'JUST ONE BITE!'_

"No," he whimpered, trying to shut it out. "No, I won't. I can't… God dammit…"

 _'Years waiting,'_ it called, as he felt this larger than life monster begin to flow back within. "To taste…"

"No I…" he tried to say, before he couldn't. It flowed into him, the part that objected pushed out. His mouth watered as the beast took control. "Give me that…" he managed to say, growling as he felt his claws break her skin. "Give it to me. Tender… Juicy…" She was still silent, still shaking, and he raised his head up, growling. "I'll eat you!"

"-Legoshi!"

His name broke through and the trance was half lifted. Stalemate again.

"Please help me!"

The desperation drew his compassion up and with it the part that didn't want to… That part pulled his arms out enough for her to escape and she ran off, the part that wanted shrivelling up as she vanished.

"-Legoshi…"

He felt blank, and he turned around to spot the goat student from earlier run out. "We have a problem!"

He felt like a robot, barely able to remember that his claws needed wiping from the blood before standing up.

It felt surreal as he stepped inside and found out that in the darkness the new actor had stepped off the stage, Louis rushing in to save him. In doing so, he'd hurt his own hoof, though he insisted it was nothing. Just painful now, needing Legoshi to help him back and then he'd be fine.

"Thanks for being the lookout," he said, as they exited. He sounded genuinely proud. "Anything happen?"

Legoshi choked up. "No."

He remained that way as he took the deer back to his place and then went to his. Like a robot, he went to bed, had a dreamless sleep, then woke up the next morning.

He remembered what had happened, all of it, and he walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.

Looked at himself in the mirror.

Looked at himself in the mirror?

Looked at himself? In the mirror.

Looked at himself?

Himself?

Who was that anymore?

Something seemed to emerge from the other side, looking at him, smiling darkly with red eyes.

Legoshi left the bathroom with an injured paw, leaving behind a newly shattered mirror.

.

* * *

.

"And those were almost my last words…"

"Almost?"

She nodded. "I had one more thing to say."

"Well…"

"Well what?"

The giraffe looming over her rolled her eyes. "You're milking this."

Judy shrugged, held up her claws, and gently blew on them. "So, what if I am?"

There was a groan as a cheetah actor walked over. "Clever. You've proven your point. Spill the beans, newbie. You were savagely attacked, mortally wounded, what next?"

" _'And Death!'_ " Judy croaked, before flopping to the floor. Her tongue lolled out and her limbs bent, as she sat there, departed.

The rest of the acting society groaned a little, but it was accompanied with claps and rounds of applause. Judy stood up and took a bow. "And that was how I got started."

"-Not much, to be honest," came a voice from the other side. Judy paused, looking over, before spotting a massive Bengal tiger standing there, sat back and observing his claws with the same disinterest that she'd been doing not long before.

The cheetah wasn't impressed. "Hey, lay of the newbie Bill."

"The newbie who's letting others fight her fights," he pointed out.

"Well, it was only a play I did when I was eight," Judy explained.

"Ah, that explains it then," he spoke, looking up. "Just a little kiddies play, all censored and stuff. Not letting loose and all. Quite typical."

"Well, there was the fake blood," Judy pointed out, stepping forward. Bill looked up at her, suddenly interested and far more appreciative.

"Heh, maybe I'm wrong," he shrugged, looking on curiously. "So what, ketchup sachets in the costume for him to claw open?"

"Ketchup bottle," she replied. "Under my arm, squeezing it to give a blood fountain to top off the gut ribbons. Pretty good, if you ask me."

The tiger groaned, rolling his eyes. "I stand not corrected," he spoke, looking down. "Seems like they weren't going to show real predatory instinct in action. Tchh… Typical."

"Well what did you expect from a bunny farming community?" she retorted.

"Oh that, the whole that and nothing but that," he replied. "Listen, it's all minor league stuff toned down for prey sensibilities. But this here isn't like that. Now listen, this isn't for the amateurs, we're the professional league, which means much more strength getting shown. I mean, I'm still having to go against a deer which means having to tone things down, sadly. But it's still much more than what you're used to. You're inexperienced and an amateur, fair enough. But we don't want you running too far ahead and getting burned. You may think that I'm being a jerk, but think of this as some genuine tough love; we don't need some cute little bunny racing ahead to skip the line only to screw up."

Judy's brow furrowed. "Firstly, you can't call a bunny cute."

He looked at her and rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, who says?"

Crossing her paws, Judy marched out to stand in front of him. She held herself tall and defiant, matching him up despite the great size difference, all while the crowd around them looked on in growing anticipation. "Us bunnies," she spoke.

"So, the cute bunnies don't want me calling them cute," he said, shrugging. "Well, who am I, a proud Bengal tiger…"

"-also a jerk."

"-to listen to them," he finished, pausing as the others sniggered at Judy's put down. He shrugged. "Not a lot you can really do, is there?"

She breathed in and out. She was athletic, she'd taken some martial arts classes in the past and knew how to go up against larger mammals. But theory and practice were two very different things, and she only had the first against someone so big. She couldn't put him in his place, at least physically, but she could take the fight to his home turf and beat him there. "Maybe there isn't. Apart from putting you in your place with my superior acting skills."

The crowd _oooohed_ in surprise, glancing to each other as his brow furrowed and he stood up, reaching his full height. "Maybe next year kit," he spoke. "After all, we're already booked up for our upcoming performance…" There was a pause, Bill's face hanging in position before he turned, looking at her with his expression darkening. "Unless of course you thought you could just walk in and take a certain person's newly absent place."

The 'ooohing' transitioned into 'hot-damning', or at least its various equivalents. "Okay then, you think you can act?" he spoke, walking over to a pair of staffs in the corner. He picked a large one up for himself, before tossing a smaller one over at Judy. It was about to sail over her head, only for her to leap up and grab it, backflipping from its momentum before landing prone and poised. He smiled. "Let's act then."

"Ready for action," Judy spoke eagerly, as he came up to her like a fencer. He pushed and parried, forcing her to fall back, both paws on her staff as she used it to block.

"So, what's the rules?"

"Does there have to be any," he spoke, as he flicked and pushed. Judy spotted him bring his stick down and sweep it across the floor like a scythe. She easily jumped over it, planting her stick to her right so it intercepted the back swing.

"Well maybe I can infer some," she said, as she ran forward, taking the initiative. "You weren't really trying there, were you?" she asked, as she slid beneath him and gave his tail a light tap with her stack. She heard him growl and, though she felt a flash of fear, she smiled. "So, this is mainly about showing off against each other."

Bill turned, this time not holding back, his stick crashing down. Judy leapt to the side, her stick held by her palms at an angle so that his was deflected away. She grabbed hers and raced forwards to tap him again, only for him to lance his down, barely missing her. She was able to bring her stick up as he flicked back, pushing her away hard. He wasn't holding back now, at least as much, and so the odds were more even.

At least, in the physical sense.

There was a lot more going on here unsaid, something Judy had to unpick. "So, focussing on such a small range of acting skill? For shame."

Bill paused, then opened his paws out in an exaggerated shrug. "But it's the best part," he spoke. "Besides, I'll be testing off your acting mettle too."

"Oh, will you now?" she said, confidently.

He chuckled darkly. "Who would challenge the acting crown must answer me these questions three, 'ere victory she wants to see."

"Answer me the questions, crown keeper," Judy matched. "I'm not afraid."

He nodded, then stepped forward. "I've dabbled with elicit substances in the past," he spoke casually. "Ones forbidden by the government, against the law. A little nip here, some funner stuff there." He walked up, swinging his staff in a lazy loop which Judy lazily matched. "My bike once broke down, a cop came up and offered to take me home, all while I had the stuff on me. I had to act in order to avoid any suspicion. By the time I got out, I was laughing and joking with him." There was a pause and a smile, and he waved his stick to the side, catching her off guard. She stumbled into the wall, hissing, before matching his gaze. "What was the highest stakes acting you ever had to do?"

She paused, looking up confused, allowing him to get a light tap in. "Dammit," she hissed as she stumbled back, tripping over herself and landing on her tail with a grunt. She jumped up, her teeth grit, which transformed into a smirk as she raised her stick. "How about now? I don't know the rules of this game, what's really going on, and I'm up against a big mean scary tiger, having to act all confident. How's that for high stakes."

He chuckled. "Good answer. Now, second question. Everyone here has a unique story or event, often tragic. Take our resident giraffe, for instance. She suffers from severe trypophobia, to the point where she gets scared of her own spot pattern in the mirror."

"-Hey!" she scolded.

Bill ignored her. "And Kai, the mongoose, abandoned at birth and raised by hyenas. What's your secret?"

Judy stood still her arms crossing in an act of defiance that drew shortened breaths from the crowd. "You're a big tiger, telling other mammal's secrets but not your own."

 _Ooooooohhhhh…._ Came the various calls. Judy looked on as his ears folded back, a hint of fear on his face. He closed his eyes and breathed in, then staring back. "I also grew up in a high prey neighbourhood," he spoke, walking forward. "My father had an excellent job there, but the others were afraid of us. I remember when I was little, playing a mock chasing game with some other prey kids. They were enjoying it, we were having fun. And then, a teacher came along."

He viciously swept his stick around, forcing Judy to duck and weave. She knew that he was holding back, giving her enough time to do so, though just barely. Lines of anger were on his face. "She tackled me to the floor, I can still taste the dirt and feel the pain in my shoulder. She then ordered them away and threw me into her office as she called my mother. I remember saying that I was just playing…" His swings were wide and sweeping, forcing Judy to keep her distance. She backed away, ever changing direction and looping around. "She said it was unacceptable. I thought that my mother would defend me, but she got there and after hearing my story she told me that I was a bad cub. And my mother kotowed to a mammal a fraction of her size." Judy barely dodged an especially vicious jab, making to grab hold of the stick at the same time. He tried to lever her up, to draw her in or hold her high. She let go, groaning as she did so and holding her arm, her eyes quivering a bit.

"Bill…" someone warned.

"That night I was lectured again and again about how we had to suppress our instincts. How what we had needed to be controlled, to kept in. I thought my father would stand up for me, but he just said it was the way of the world. I swore to change that. Do you know what the Beastar is?"

Judy gave her arm a sharp pull up, groaning in pain as it moved, before looking at him fiercely. "The top student of a graduating year," she spoke. "Not just grades, but elected, too."

"Well, after Louis has his limelight as a prey mammal, I'll be displaying my predatory instincts full up and win it back to my side," he spoke, fierce passion etched into his face. "I've spent my life exploring them, owning them, championing them, and I will show them to the world and proclaim that there is no shame in them what so ever." He paused, then gestured up with his stick. "See that wolf up there."

Keeping an eye on him, Judy turned to look. She saw the wolf from the day before, shrinking back behind a light.

"Hey, Legoshi, still trying to act like a prey?" he asked, shrugging. "Come on. Let out your wild side a little, you'll enjoy it. Embrace yourself, rather than living in shame." He turned back down. "A lot of it is for the poor saps like him, who hate themselves. They deserve to love themselves, and that's what I plan to help with. And you? What's your story?"

"Since I was eight, I've wanted to be a police officer. A full on one in a real big city police department," she spoke confidently. "I've been working hard and, with the MII in the works, I plan to get into the ZPD."

"So, a prey thinking like a pred? Acting out against society?"

"Yeah," she spoke, waving her stick up to catch one of his fast side blows. It hit hard and she winced, hissing in pain as she dug her buck teeth into her lower lips. The crowd gasped, more telling Bill to lay it off and to stop it, to give her a break. Some looked like they would actually intervene. "And no. I want to make the world a better place, simple as. That's what pred… ah… and prey can do. It doesn't matter. Even with my family objecting, or trying to downplay, I've pushed on and on. I don't know when to quit."

She swung hard at him, his stick catching hers and driving it down. It snapped out of her paws but not before pulling her down onto her knees. There were more gasps, someone saying that they were about to stop this, and Bill smiled. "I must say, you actually are impressive. You have them all duped."

And then Judy casually stood up and shrugged. "Yeah, nice match."

The crowd gasped, then chuckled, as Bill shrugged. "I mean credit where credit is due. You played a very good meek prey. I'd be curious though about how you might place a predator."

"-So would I," came a new voice from the side, everyone gasping as Louis walked out. "I've been watching this for quite some time," he spoke, looking to Bill. "You certainly tested her mettle."

"You were certainly a deer stalking," he countered, bringing a few laughs from the crowd.

Louis looked down at her. "Judy Hopps, was it? The hopeful bunny cop."

She nodded happily, her eyes excited and eager. "Yes!"

He smiled back. "Come, I think we could have an interesting discussion in private."

Off he went, Judy following.

"-Oh, one more question," Bill spoke.

Judy's ears raised and she turned back. "What?"

"What is the terminal velocity of an unladen swallow?"

"What do you mean, African or European?"

He smirked. "European."

She paused, her eyes narrowing. "It's the maximum speed it can fall at under the influence of only gravity and wind resistance."

He raised an eyebrow. "Right, off you go."

Off Judy went, both curious and eager.

.

* * *

.

"So," Louis spoke, watching Judy as she entered in and sat down. The bunny was looking up to him, both excited and nervous. "You're the bunny who wants to join the ZPD?"

"Yup," she said, nodding her head. "Ever since I was eight. I've worked hard, studied the laws, had experience in the local sheriff's office, and am doing my current criminal justice degree as I wait for the MII to pass."

He nodded. "Impressive. But don't they have bunny cops out in Bunnyburrow? After all, it's their place, wouldn't they want their kind to police it?"

Judy nodded. "Well, out there you have hare officers, who you do not want to call bunnies face to face. A hare is a hare and nothing else as far as they're concerned, and most of the officers are them or some of the other larger mammals that live in the area. A bunny can join, I can if I want to. But I'd like to go to Zootopia, leading the trail there."

He paused, hmmm'ing a bit before nodding. "Pushing forward to the golden city on top of a hill, am I right?"

"Yeah," she said, "You could say that."

"Well, I do hope you the best of luck in that endeavour, you'll be a credit to your species if you succeed."

The bunny couldn't help but blush a bit, given just who those words were coming from.

"-And if they're foolish and hold themselves back, I'm sure I could help find potential alternatives," he said, Judy's face piquing in curiosity.

"Alternatives?" she asked.

He nodded and stood up, wavering for a second or two before walking over to a desk and sitting down on it. "You are aware of who my father is, correct?"

"No, I don't," she said. "Not to say he was sinful or anything, but I think it's wrong to judge a son by the sins of his father."

There was a pause, the deer's smile growing a little wider. "I think I find myself liking you ever more by the second, Judy Hopps. I certainly wouldn't say that my father isn't sinful, but then who isn't? No, my father is the CEO of the Horns Conglomerate."

The casualness with which he said it was matched with the gawk on Judy's face. He shrugged. "Regardless, I'm sadly not yet old enough to get my hooves on any of the lobbying budget. However, were the MII to fail, I could arrange your own training followed by a well-paid job in our security detail."

"I…" Judy began, her mind scrabbling as it tried to pick up all her thoughts and put them into order. "I mean, thanks. Honestly. But…"

"But?" he asked.

"I… -Oh sweet cheese, how do I… Um…"

"I presume there's an issue," he said, walking forwards. Resting one hand hard on her chair, he leant in with the other, tilting up her chin. "It's easiest if you just say it."

She breathed in and out. "The offer is generous. But it isn't just the 'being a big strong bunny' or the whole 'crime stuff' that makes me want to be a police officer. More than anything, it's making the world a better place. I don't feel that your offer would provide me with that, or let me do that, and in such a case I'd probably settle for an officer job back home." She sighed, turning her head away and tilting it down. "Sorry for disappointing you."

"I wouldn't say you have," he spoke. "You have noble convictions, through and through, all of which I respect. Both with this, and the previous comment."

"What, about sins of the parents?" Judy asked, looking up. "I thought that was pretty much a given today."

"You'd be surprised," he spoke, standing up and leaning against the bench again. "I mean, what is the MII if it's not stopping the city government from judging mammals for who they are descended from."

"That's a really good point."

He nodded. "It's not just them. One of the reasons I'm so impressed by you is because you break the mould that bunnies regularly fit into, that others fit them in, but in many cases they themselves chose to accept even if they don't truly want to."

Judy paused. "Settling."

"When I think about out there," he spoke, looking out of the window. "To the Burrows, I imagine millions of humdrum families living humdrum lives, never really trying to amount to anything."

Judy huffed. "As much as I'd like to disagree with you…"

"You can't. But in many cases they might just be looking for someone to prove that it can be done. To show them that there is a way, and to show others that bunnies can do it." He turned, looking down at her and smiling. "In a way, I think I'm honoured to be here with the mammal who that may well be."

Judy smiled and blushed, glancing away, all while being charmed by his praise. Louis then nodded and carried on speaking. "I think that fact that you still aim to serve the greater good is a nice touch too, it shows that you still have a connection to your deepest roots, and not everything is about escaping who you are." He paused, and then sighed. "Remember that wolf that Bill pointed out? He was there at the memorial too."

Judy nodded. "Legosi, right?"

"Legoshi," Louis corrected, looking out of the window. "He's a type of mammal who wants to escape who he is, just like you. But then the similarity ends. He's a wolf: tall, proud, pack animal, fierce, loyal, brave. But I can't help but see a mammal who's afraid of _being_ a wolf; who feels shame for his very instincts and abilities. I've tried to help him, but he sometimes acts like he has some kind of original sin that he has to wear." There was a pause, his features hardening. "I've always hated that concept," he spoke, darkly. "And all those that try and chain it onto others. I can't imagine such a pathetic way of living, ashamed of your very self."

Judy paused, nodding, before looking up at him. "I think I met someone like that too."

"Hmmmm?"

"There was a fox," she spoke, "at the memorial. He was selling flowers, which didn't sit right with me. He also seemed to be really cynical of what you were saying. I eventually caught up with him. He thought his selling was fine, especially because, in his view, you two did something far worse. -I mean, that ewe did, you were just countering her. But he also went on and on about how I was only going against him as he was a fox, and how foxes would always be seen as shifty and sly, and that if society saw him as that and me 'as a bunny' then we should just embrace it. What do you think of that?"

The deer paused in thought. "Not as bad as our wolf," he judged, "but still terribly said that he's been raised to see shame in those attributes of his."

"Uh…" Judy began, raising a finger and not quite getting it.

Louis looked at her and smirked. "When I think of foxes, I think of cunning mammals. Clever mammals. Mammals who can solve problems on their feet, negotiate well for you, do the impossible for you. The cunning of a fox is quite famous, isn't it?" He paused, and sighed. "Such an amazing attribute, and to feel shame over it. Though at least he feels that he lives true to himself, better than that wolf and his disgust at his own strength and power."

"And what about yourself?" Judy asked, curiously. "What things about being a deer do you hold, uh, dear?"

He smiled. "We're strong, we're proud, we're graceful but good fighters. Dramatic, social, resilient and hot headed, even," he spoke, tapping an antler with his hoof. "And, on top of that, I have a fascination with all those predatory instincts and traits. I respect them, I desire them for myself, which makes me so sad for those like Legoshi who discard them."

Judy nodded, pausing to think. "When I met that fox, he was very cynical of you. He said that you were a generic politician in the making and that you just talked the talk. At the end, though, he said that if you were born ninety years ago then _'our stag in the forest running free could have easily been that singer from the end of Cabaret.'_ "

She was broken off by a snort from the cervine, Louis smirking as he seemed to chew on the argument. "Maybe he has a point," he mused. "I am certainly not lacking in self-awareness, and given my respect for strength, loyalty, pure determination and complete confidence, I could perfectly see myself being classified as a Miss Jean Goatee type. But I have always had mammals best interests at heart. That's why I am committed to species collaboration."

There was a pause and a sigh, as he looked down, Judy suddenly sensing a dark, sad sincerity in the way he acted. "Do you know what happens when that cooperation begins to fray?"

"No," she said.

His eyes narrowed. "Terrible things. Truly terrible things that you can't imagine and I wish that I couldn't, but which we must not let happen. We have to put our true faith in the unity between species in order to keep them together and commit ourselves to it until the bitter end, and if that makes me an ideologue then so be it."

Judy nodded. "Understood," she said. "I mean, with this murder… The police will do the best, but I'll keep my eyes open and ears peeled."

"Indeed," he said. "In terms of the drama society, there's no chance for you to perform in _Adler the Reaper_ , we're too far along. But I'll try and find you a place in the next performance, if you show your commitment to us of course."

Judy nodded. "I won't let you down."

"Thanks. Anything else?"

"No," she began. "Well, maybe one thing…"

"Yes?" he asked.

Judy turned to him, then looked down at his leg. "It's just, you seem to be trying to avoid putting weight on that leg. Everything okay?"

"Absolutely," he replied. "But thanks for the concern."

"And thanks for the chat," Judy said, as she stood up and left. She made her way along the corridor, feeling happy for herself. That went well.

And then her phone rang, it was Haru. Judy answered, and her happy expression morphed into one of shock, sadness, sympathy and horror.


	4. The Fox and the Wolf

.

"Damn you Bill," Legoshi hissed.

He closed his eyes and slumped his head against the bathroom mirror, one that wasn't broken (yet).

He sighed. There was no way the tiger would could have known. Heck, he himself wasn't quite sure either. It could be a dream? That would make it all alright, wouldn't it?

No loss of control and no stalking a rabbit in the night, wanting to eat her…

He froze and shivered, realising that his mouth had watered slightly. He wanted to be sick, but he wasn't, he didn't even feel queasy.

He breathed in and out and stared down at the sink, watching on as the tap dripped and dripped and dripped into it.

Like blood, leaking from a wound.

His paw coming up, he turned it around and look on at the tough claws on the end, bringing him close to his nose in order to give a few sniffs.

Blood…

Deep down and well washed off, but still there.

He thought.

He closed his eyes and slumped down. There had to be another explanation, there had to be something else to explain what had gone on that night. Because he didn't want it to be true, he didn't want every unfair slight against him due to him being a big scary predator to have a root in reason. He didn't want to be this big scary monster, hiding behind a shabby civilised veneer.

He didn't want to be the monster in this.

He sighed. If that rabbit girl was real, he hoped she was okay. He hoped she was fine and was passing it off as a nightmare too. He imagined her out there, doing her things, happy and enjoying life. Then again, maybe she'd gone to the police and they were on their way to him now.

His ears and trail drooped. There was no chance that they would believe his tall tale, of how he'd almost gone savage and had to fight himself to stop him from eating her. Or maybe they would, and the results of that would be worse. What few friends he had would leave him, he'd be hated and despised and then thrown into an asylum; heck, the chances were they'd think that he was the one who killed poor Tem…

-Was he?

His legs gave way, only his elbows hitting the sink stopping him from collapsing to the floor, while the drops from the tap were joined with drops from his eyes. Who's to say it wasn't him? That he had one of those episodes on the day he died, murdering his friend and then not remembering?

That did give him a little shiver, though it was abated a bit as he remembered that he'd been doing a bunch of work that night. He had an alibi, he was in his dorm all of the day and all of the night, so it couldn't be him.

He hoped.

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, a grumble of frustration coming from his mouth until he realised what he was doing with a start. He shut it off and swallowed it down, running the tap in order to get some water to freshen himself up with.

He…

Maybe he had these terrible instincts, maybe there was a truth behind what others like that ewe were saying. But he could control them, right? Tame them. They weren't him, he was not they, that had to be true. He couldn't let them win.

Washing and drying his face, he took a breath in before walking out of the bathroom, his back and shoulders even more slouched than usual. Paws in his pockets, lips tightly closed, he kept himself calm and small and inoffensive.

He just had to keep a low profile, keep himself under control, and this would all blow over, right?

Yeah, it would, he had to think that. Still, it would be tough, not helped by mammals like Bill. He'd never understood how he did it, taken pride in all his instincts and biology, even showing them off and thrusting it in the face of those who didn't like it. It had been interesting to hear his story and background, learning that he'd been put down for them too, far more than he ever had. But in response he'd hardened himself, taken it as armour and thrust it in the face of anyone who complained. It still felt a bit jerkish to Legoshi, though maybe that was the root of it all. He'd always tried to hide his detracting elements in order to help make him fit in, not that it totally worked. He presumed it worked to some degree, but he'd never be able to tell too much without completely abandoning it, something he wasn't willing to do.

Bill, though, had thrown that in the water and lived for himself. He didn't feel shame for being a predator; heck, he said that feeling shame for being a predator was the real shame. Legoshi got the point, sort of. He wished he was happy with who he was, but he felt the best way to do that was if who he was changed. It annoyed him that so much of what Bill said was right: he didn't love himself, he did feel shame for being a predator, he did wish that he could be a prey. Yet given what had just gone on, what was happening, there was no way he could take that advice. Heck, it felt like salt in the wound, which was why he was so frustrated with that tiger.

That and drawing attention to him, of course. To a bunny no less.

Not the one he'd almost eaten, thank god. That one had been white throughout, whereas the one doing try-outs was grey with black ear tips. She reminded him of Louis, an ambition prey, trying to burst out of her seams while he tried to shrink into them.

Maybe this whole incident had been due to that? He'd spent all this time trying to stuff his predator side, his 'bad' side, away; were the seams beginning to come apart?

He didn't know, he really didn't know, and it all scared him. But he didn't know what to do with that fear either, other than hope it was all just a bad dream all over again.

Finally, back in the theatre's art department, he let himself in and sat down to do some work. Put his mind to something, anything, instead of rolling about all these horribly thoughts. He hoped that the bunny, both of the bunnies even, weren't thinking about the big bad wolf.

.

* * *

.

"-What do you mean, he sounded like he was struggling?"

Judy looked on concerned, leaning in as Haru sniffed and trembled some more. They were sat on her little bed in the gardening hut, enjoying the warmth. It helped, given how cold they both felt.

"He… He… Well, it was almost like he was fighting not too."

Judy paused, her mouth hanging agape. She'd been shocked to hear that Haru had been attacked the night before, but as it turned out that a huge predator had lunged at her, salivated over her, bared his teeth and even said that he was going to eat her, that had morphed into horror. Even though he didn't know him, the murder of Tem still weighed heavily on her mind.

There was a dangerous predator on the loose, in both senses of the word.

Yet now…

"So, what, he was going 'do it', 'stop it', 'do it', 'don't'?"

"I…" she began, before sniffing again. Judy paused, leaning down to pat her shoulder and give her all the time she needed. "-He only said that he was going to eat me right at the very end, before he got distracted and loosened."

"Distracted?"

She turned and nodded. "Someone came out, calling his name, saying that they needed help. He then let go."

"So, you have his name?"

She paused, closing her eyes and looking down. "No. I… -So much was going on and I was so scared, I didn't even think of trying to remember it, and it…" She sighed. "I'm sorry for being so weak and useless…"

"-Hey!" Judy cut in. "You are not weak, not useless, and you definitely shouldn't be sorry to anyone. You were just attacked, assaulted and almost murdered." She paused and then smiled. "Do you know who you are? You're the mammal who stands up to all those miserable bullies out there with a straight face, even as they throw it down at you. You never show them that they're hurting you, which is pretty brave in my books."

"Thanks," she said, before looking away and sighing. "But right then, when that giant thing hit me and we were rolling over, then when he was gripping me tight and I could feel him shaking and trying to figure out whether to do it or not, I was doing nothing. I was just holding there: still, quiet, not fighting or calling out. I thought myself so pathetic then, and against something so big and huge, I wondered what the use was. So I just stayed like that, waiting for it to be over…"

"But it's not over," Judy said, a fiery resolve in her voice as she grabbed Haru's paw and help it firm. "Because you're still here, which means that you can be strong and powerful and I can keep making your world a better place. First things first is getting to the bottom of who did this and why."

"Okay," Haru said, feeling a bit more confident.

"Right," Judy said. "So, about him being conflicted."

"Yes," Haru mumbled, breathing in and out as she remembered. "I first heard something, and then I began running but it was too late. I felt it hit me and grab me, and we went rolling. I thought it was going to end there, but it didn't. Instead, he, it really sounded like a him, held me and began shaking. Sniffing, trembling, I felt his grip go up and down. Then he began speaking out. "'Please stop', 'I won't', 'No'…"

"Almost like he was arguing with someone?"

"Yeah," Haru agreed, pausing. "You hear these things, about savage predatory instincts. Is that what this is, them taking over him as he tries to resist?"

Judy nodded along. "I mean, they all evolved out of them but some remnants would logically still be there." She turned away, tapping her finger on her cheek as she mused. "Maybe it's dissociative personality disorder instead."

"What personality disorder?"

"Split personality," Judy explained. "Or maybe he has some form of schizophrenia instead." She paused, jumping up and pacing around. "Now, thanks to pawflix I've had my fair share of look-ins at serial killers…"

"Seems pretty handy," Haru commented.

"-Yup," she agreed. "And the really nasty ones don't have the same kind of profile. They're almost obsessive in what they do. That, or experimental. They're either stuck doing things in a certain way for a certain reason, such as recreating a scene from a film, or they're starting small with things such as animal abuse and then building up. The latter kind are nasty mammals who are just pushing their boundaries, getting a feel for each next step, before things get ugly."

"Which could be my attacker," Haru noted, shivering a bit. "He was practicing and pushing those boundaries, finally getting the nerve to bite. Only to be distracted. So, he might try again."

"Except," Judy reasoned, "for the fact that Tem was already murdered. So, he'd already passed that boundary. The fact he struggled so much makes me think that this is a psychological issue. He had a serious episode when near Tem, and a lighter one when you were close by."

"But what if they're two separate mammals?" Haru countered.

Judy paused, pinching the bridge of her nose for a second before looking back, her voice taking on a sadder tone. "I think that's very unlikely."

"Why not?" the white doe said, her voice getting confident again as the pain of what happened briefly faded. "Maybe my attack learnt about Tem's attack, and then tried to recreate it, as a tribute or something?"

"Well, the chances of ever meeting one mammal like that are, thankfully, exceptionally low," Judy mused, walking over to the greenhouse section and looking out. "Your unlikely ever to do so, even in passing. There being two of them, here, on this campus, is a truly tiny possibility."

"But it still is a possibility."

Judy looked over and sighed. "I guess you're right," she agreed. "But truly, stupidly, tiny. I'm pretty certain that the same mammal is behind both of these events. The chances of it being just a single real Ted Bunny like monster as so low that I'd still stake my bet on it being an insanity case. Thinking back to those interviews, all those mammals sounded absolute confident and sure in what they were doing. Acting it, too. Given how conflicted your attacker sounded, I think it's a mammal who needs to be thrown into a hospital and not a prison."

"Can I kick him in the balls first?" Haru asked, sounding like she meant it.

Judy smiled. "We'll see. But first, we need to do the sensible thing and get in contact with the police. They need to know, they need to be able to link this to him, and then they could get some DNA samples and track him down before anyone else is hurt."

"I…" Haru began, before glancing away. "I don't really want to go to the police."

Judy blinked a few times. "Huh? Why not?"

"I don't know, they're big and they're powerful and they're scary…"

"-And they'll be here to protect you," Judy said, walking forward to hold her paws. She stood in front of her, running her thumbs across her knuckles for comfort, smiling as she did so. "And if you're scared, I'll be there too. Moral support!"

Haru looked into her eyes and relaxed a bit. "Thanks, but… I'm just worried that they'll think I'm stupid.

"Why would they do that?"

"Because I delayed going to them," she said, before bringing out her left arm, bandaged up. "And the first thing I did was wash this and disinfect it. I was scared at the time, I just wanted things to get better and… and… and for me to go to bed and wake up the next day…" She broke off, sniffing. "Thinking that it might go back to normal."

"You were in shock," Judy stated, firmly but calmly. "After an attempt on your life, while everyone was already scared. They'll understand. Besides, we may still be able to get dental marks from that arm."

"He clawed me," she spoke, Judy's ears drooping a bit.

"Right," she said. "What about your clothes?"

"Put them in the wash," she mumbled. "I just felt powerless and weak, and I wanted that horrible memory to just go away, and be ready for whatever came next." She paused, shrugging. "I mean, I know how to stand up to standard bullies, but if I meet this mammal again… I almost feel like I'll be resigned to whatever happens next. I'm just a little bunny next to him. Whatever happens, happens."

"Well if that thing is murder, then we're not going to let it," Judy said, firmly. She paused, before going over to her bag and bringing out a pen and pad of paper. "Here, write down everything you know, you remember, anything however small that could help."

"Okay," she began, looking at it.

"Then, when you're ready, I can take you to the station and be there with you as you give your reports! You're a bunny who stands up for yourself, Haru. You may not think it, but I can see it in you when you go up against the petty bullies. Now let's do it against the monsters in the night!"

Haru looked over and smiled. "Okay. Yeah," she said. "I've… I've got a final period meeting with Professor Otterton. Could we go after that?"

Judy nodded. "Sure," she said, leaning in for a hug, Haru responding. "And if you ever need help," she said, pointing to her phone. "Call me."

Haru nodded, looking around. "Well, you know where to find me," she said, before looking at her. She sighed a bit. "You're special, you know that? You're so very brave, how do you do it?"

Judy smiled. "Well, you just have to stare down danger until it gives itself up. Put on a brave face, because they won't be expecting that."

Haru nodded. She understood. Heck, she'd more than do that, she'd be like that. She'd be like Judy, staring down danger in the face. "I'll keep it in mind. thank you, for everything, friend."

"Hey, it's what friends do," Judy replied, as they hugged each other again before the grey doe headed off. Haru turned to her sheet, breathing in and out before putting her words to paper. It was tough, no part of her liked remembering that night, and most of her wanted to just forget it and carry on as if nothing happened. But Judy coming into her life, showing what a bunny who didn't know when to quit looked like, gave her more than enough confidence to stand up and carry on.

.

* * *

.

Legoshi grumbled. He was away from the art department, being given the simple task of enquiring about some supplies for a scenery decoration. All well and good, right?

Except it wasn't. Now that he was alone and walking, not busy adjusting lights or dealing with needlework, his mind was wandering. And there was only one subject it could wander too.

He looked at his claws again and slumped down some more, trying not to look threatening to any of the prey mammals passing his way. Sure, he was used to some looks, but he could swear that there were more and greater ones now, as if they knew.

As if they were judging.

Maybe they did have a point. Maybe he was a savage predator after all. He didn't want to be! But maybe that was who he was…

 _"_ _-Pawpsicles. -Pawpsicles!_ "

He paused and turned, spotting a fox selling a pair of frozen treats from a stand. They were small, but only two dollars, and he guessed that they might make him feel better. Strolling up, he slammed two bucks down and grabbed one of them, raising it up to his jaw. His top lip slipped up and he let his teeth slide into one of the divots before crunching done, ripping off one of the fingers…

He shivered as he thought about it; maybe these weren't the best things to buy after all. The melting liquid even looked a little like blood (though the stuff inside his mouth tasted more like the fruit juice in the canteen). He tried not to think about breaking bones as he slipped the bit of ice back and crushed it to pieces with his molars.

"Hey, why the long face?"

Legoshi paused, turning down to the fox, who was looking up at him with a strange sort of curiosity.

The vulpine shrugged. "Now, it really isn't in my business to step into other's, but something does seem up with you today…?"

"Legoshi."

"Right. Legoshi. Mind if I call you Legs, you do have some long ones."

"I guess."

"Perfect," the fox said, smiling. "I'm Nick, Nick Wilde, informal business mammal and fellow student. So, what's on your mind Legs, predator to predator?"

Legoshi froze up on those words, looking left and right indecisively. Nick looked on, thinking, his ears dropping back a bit as he felt a little bit of sympathy. "Well, I can guess," he said, folding his paws. "Tell me if this sounds familiar. Poor innocent prey mammal gets offed in some way, headline: savage predator murderer, murderer who is a predator not murderer of predators, is out there. And whoopsie, it means every speciesist jerk out there, whether they live by it or think they're all high and mighty and above that, decides that any big pred out there might be the mam in question. Correct?"

"Roughly, yes…" the Legoshi said, Nick's head tilting a bit. He could tell that the wolf was holding back on something.

"-Well, in that case, take the easy route," the fox advised, taking out a pawpsicle and nibbling on the end. "Society out there will only ever see me as a shift fox, so why not give them what they want. I mean, I'm doing well for myself, and if they don't like it then tough, they made their bed and now they can sleep in it."

The wolf sighed. "No, that won't work…"

"Why not?" Nick asked. "You're a big wolf. Stand tall and big. I mean, your kind loves to hang out with other wolves, pair up with them and have fun howling and stuff. If those others aren't going to give you a chance, don't bother giving them one either. Just take the path of least resistance buddy. There's no point in being hard in yourself."

In contrast to the raised back and pointing ears of confidence that Nick would have expected after his motivational speech, Legoshi dropped down further, giving an overly exaggerated sigh. "But I don't want to be fierce," he spoke, looking up. "I don't want to be someone feared by others."

Nick shrugged. "Hey, sorry Legs, but it's not about what you want, it's about what you get. I once wanted to be brave, loyal, helpful trustworthy…" he began, pausing a bit as he thought back before shaking his head. "But society? Nope, you're a fox so you're not going to be that. You can't be that. And it hurt, I was hurt being that naïve, and maybe if you try and fight what you are then you'll get hurt too. Not just by disappointment, either."

There was a warning tone to Nick's voice, contrasting with the slight desperation in Legoshi's. "Listen, you're a predator, right?" he asked, scanning around fretfully.

"Yup."

"I have predators on the left of me and even some prey on the right, telling me to pred up and be fierce. Even you are in some way. But I don't want that, I can't have that; it's too risky!"

"Why?" Nick asked, his head tilting a bit. "Worried that it'll scare off some friends."

"No," he said, waving his arms. "Well, if they learn the full truth they might get scared off, everyone might… -I… -Do you ever have problems with your instincts?"

Nick paused, not sure what to say. "I don't know. Tell me about these instincts."

"Well, you know, instincts? Predatory instincts."

"Oh," Nick began. "I mean, if I ever see a field of snow, I have this itty-bitty urge to go and pounce into it. No harm, right?"

"So, you don't have to fight it?"

"I can ignore it."

"But you're never been trying to hold yourself, stop them from taking over, right? They've never been screaming at you to do something evil, something sick, and you're screaming at yourself to not do it while they're screaming at you to do, and parts of you really want you to do… Right?"

Nick glanced around, putting one foot to the side and turning, all while shifting his weight around in a certain specific way. "So, what, were you… ogling after some pretty she-wolf?" he asked, before snapping his fingers and slapping himself. "Or howling! That's got to be it! Trying not to howl, I never knew what it was with wolves and howling, but now I know. That's it, isn't it? That's not it…"

"Last night I was alone," he said, "and I smelt a rabbit… Something... -took over. I had to fight it, fight myself from eating her… I was begging it to stop, but my body was locked up, and if I wasn't distracted then I might have..."

He left it unsaid as Nick looked on, speechless. He'd almost commented with 'eww', but held himself off. This… this wasn't right, was it? No, this was all a set up!

Nick broke down in a chuckle, laughing as he hit his knee with his paw. "Okay then," he said, confidently looking up and smiling. "So, you approached this rabbit, all back up in a corner. But part of you wanted to eat her, part of you didn't. So, you crouched down this," he said, getting on his knees. "All while trying to stop yourself." He pulled back on his bottom eyelids, the red showing, and began to rock back and forth slightly. " _Ymir…_ " he spoke oddly. " _Ymir's people… Greetings…_ " He got up again, leaning back against his stand and smiling. "Yeah, it went something like that, didn't it?"

He was broken off as the wolf lunged for him, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "No, it isn't! Please, I need help! I don't even know if this is real or not, I don't know what to do, everyone is hating me even more and I don't want to be a monster! What should I do!?"

He broke off, looking around, his ears and posture going down as he saw multiple mammals looking his way. Nick, recovering, blinked a few times as he looked up, his ears going back. "Okay…" he began, sounding not so sure about it.

"I, uhhh, I better go now," Legoshi mumbled, pausing as he saw the remains of his mostly eaten pawpsicle, the blood red juice flowing down his paw. He hurriedly began wiping it on his trousers, before thrusting it into a pocket.

"Yes," Nick began, quietly. He cleared his throat. "Given that you wanted advice, I think I can give some. You, sir, need major psychological treatment, pro-stat."

"I'll think about it," he muttered, before tripping over his own feet as he rushed away. He recovered, and then off he went.

Nick was left there, not sure what all that was about, but not really liking it. All he could be sure of was that, however bad he thought his lot was, he was glad that he was not that wolf.

Legoshi, in contrast, couldn't help but roll those final words around in his head. Sure, it made sense, get treatment or something. But that would mean admitting that he was a monster, and he wasn't! He thought, he believed…

No.

That whole thing had to have been a dream! Just do your job, get an arrangement for flower deliveries for the set background, then carry on with life as normal. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door, ready to talk. He was thinking that up here was an unusual place for a gardening club when the door opened, his body going stiff with cold and panic.

It wasn't a dream.

There was no way it could be.

As there, standing in front of him, smelling the same and with a bandaged-up arm, was the rabbit he'd been ready and happy to devour.

.

.

**AN: Dun-Dun-Dunnn... We're here, and big things go down next chapter.**

**Big things go on tomorrow too when, as part of my Fantastic Foxes of Zootopia series, I release the long awaited 'Triple Date' story. Featuring Nick, Judy, Skye, Jack and Haida and Retsuko (from Aggretsuko) going on a triple date together. It's massive, it's hilarious, so even if you haven't followed the rest of that saga (I'll add a little primer at the beginning of the A03 version), it might be worth poking in for some fun.**

**As for Zoostars, like, subscribe, please review and stay both safe and awesome.**


	5. Forbidden Fruit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Welcome back to the next chapter. If you like this and enjoy my crossover work, I'd just like to remind everyone that I recently created 'SavageSkyeHaidSukoWildeHopps', a fic where the Zootopia gang (including fanon characters Jack and Skye) and Retsuko and Haida from Aggretsuko go on a crazy city crossing date across the city of Zootopia... Before waking up the next morning with no memory and having to work out what exactly it was that they'd done. Though part of a much larger series (Fantastic Foxes of Zootopia (which also heavily features characters from Fantastic Mr Fox)), a primer is given at the start of the fic so that anyone can (and have) launch strait into the triple date action and have a blast. Feel free to give it a go!  
> .  
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The garden smelt so sweet, he found himself noting. Well, bar something that smelt bad, probably those durians over there. It looked beautiful too, the sunlight lighting up the flowers to create a kaleidoscope spread out in front of him. But there was something else that he smelt too, something all too familiar and, looking down, his eyes locked onto her.

Perfectly white, tinier than he remembered, the rabbit stood there, smiling warmly.

He looked around worried: the beauty, the fragrances, the smile. It was a trap, it had to be, this garden of evil containing one very big apple that just lay there, waiting for him. How did he know that he could resist the temptation?

He couldn’t, the bandages around her arm testament to that. He was amazed that she hadn’t shrieked on seeing him or run. But now he had to.

“Can I help you?”

She’d asked it in such a sweet and kind way and, looking up, seeing her slip her phone away and look up to him with those pretty brown eyes, his nerves were shooting this way and that. Maybe she didn’t remember, or recognise him? In that case then, running away right now might just clue her on. He needed an excuse, quickly. Stomach ache? Toilet? No, none of those seemed to work out. Maybe he could just say that he’d forgotten to do something…?

“I…” he began, only for a gust of wind to whip past him, a bang ringing out from behind him. He turned to see that the door had slammed shut, and he needed a key for the latch to open it from this side. “Oh dear!”

“Don’t worry, the key is back in the shed,” she said warmly. “But I thought you came for flowers, isn’t that right?”

“Right…” he nodded. He’d sent her a little email just to check that she was in. So, she knew his name… Okay, but keep to the plan. Keep calm, find a way out... “Yeah, but, it’s just I’ve realised…”

“Urgh, rumours spread fast, especially bad ones,” she spoke. Her arms were crossed and she looked down at the floor, shrugging as she talked. Was this her getting on to him? “Do I scare you?”

Legoshi froze. It was a brilliant and terrible question all at the same time, and one with no answer. Of course she scared him, last time they’d met he’d lost control and almost killed her. Her simple presence, the pair alone together, could tip him over again and then she’d end up dead and him a murderer. Even if this did go all okay right now, she could still easily send him to prison for years, taking his future. But on the opposite end, she was a bunny. She was cute, she was harmless, she was so tiny and he couldn’t elaborate on any of this as then the game would be up. The only way he could answer was “No.” Of course she wasn’t. He still had all the power here; he’d been the one to try and eat her. That was how it worked, right? He had no right to be scared of her.

Then again, after what he did he had no right to be talking to her right now.

Part of him was sure that she knew, and she was playing with him. Another part reasoned that she was completely oblivious, given how happy she was acting through all of this. He had no choice but to follow on as she led him back into her garden, approaching a bunch of flower beds. She really had green fingers.

He handed over the plans and looked around, while she studied them. “So, you need some roses? We have several kinds, so take a look.”

“Thanks,” he said, as he quietly stood behind her, looking on as she bobbed about a bit, humming as she thought.

“What club do you belong to again?”

“I work for the drama club,” he explained, thankful for the reprieve. He could just parrot stuff he knew, rather than having to deal with all this awkwardness. “I’m behind the scenes, in the art department. We need roses to decorate the hall.”

She hummed in appreciation and he looked down at her. She was so like a child, yet she held herself confidently as she looked through the drawings. Their heads were so far apart, he’d have to crouch down in order to speak to her face to face. He realised that he’d never talked face-to-face with smaller mammals before (with the exception of a fennec fox in his dorm, but he was always on someone’s shoulders). Suddenly, she pulled her head back and over, looking right up at him. “One condition!”

“Condition?” he asked, suddenly nervous again. Damn, things had been starting to feel pretty normal again.

“I can’t offer my precious flowers for free,” she said, turning around to look at him properly. She then looked past him, to a bunch of potted plants near the main shed. “Could you help move them around for me?” Looking at them, he was about to give a cautious ‘yes’ in response, only to react with a jolt as he felt a paw on his tail. Standing up and looking behind, he saw her stuffing it away beneath one of his suspenders. “I don’t want your big tail to break the planters,” she explained off, confidently. Legoshi’s head meanwhile was buzzing at the simple fact that she had touched it. First Louis, then her! “Don’t worry,” she joked. “I won’t cut it off.”

He shook his head. There was no way she remembered, no way at all. He nodded and put himself to work, grabbing them and starting to move them across. He moved to pick up a bunch of violet coloured tulips (he guessed) when he suddenly felt dizzy, slipping down onto his knees. “You okay?”

No, he wasn’t. He really wasn’t at all, because he had a sudden flash of that instinct again. It was coming back, they were alone. “No, no…” he stammered out, picking them up and moving them across. He felt his mouth water as he placed it down before walking away, taking in a few deep breaths.

It…

It seemed to going away.

He picked up the next one, focussing on keeping himself under control, all while acting casual.

“What year are you in?” she asked.

“My third,” he muttered out.

“Ah, I’m on my fourth. Just because you’re one year younger than me doesn’t mean you have to be polite.”

“O-okay,” he said, bringing another set of heavy planters across. He was feeling better now. He paused, feeling a bit more confident and, as he looked around, a question entered his mind. “Are you the only one here?”

“Yeah,” she replied, laughing it off. “Only one to really stick by it.”

“Must get lonely then,” he replied, dropping down the planter.

She laughed a bit. “You’re right, but these flowers need me. And I’ve gotten a few more friends more recently.”

He smiled. “That’s nice.” He meant it, genuinely. She was a really friendly person and he did wish the best for her. Of course, he also felt guilt. After all, it was his fault that she had those bandages on her arm.

“Yeah,” she said, a hint of melancholy in her voice as she picked up a spray bottle. “I need them too.” His ears pricked at the statement, and he turned to watch her as she watered some saplings. “Us weak ones must help each other,” she mused, turning back to her work.

Now it felt like she _did_ know, but instead knew _all_ of it. She knew about his struggles, about his conflict, about how he had to live with it and deal with it and, yes, he knew it was stupid, but he wanted to believe it. He just knelt there, looking at her as she smiled and dealt with her plants, her fluffy tail bobbing in the breeze as she spoke and acted so kind to everything.

“If we dig our heels in,” she mused, “we may even risk our lives…”

And now he was certain. Dammit, she did know, but she didn’t care. The wolf looked on in wonder, staring at his claws, trying to think of anything to say. He should make sure, explain it all and… -no, that was stupid! It would just risk screwing up everything. “Hey…” _-Stop it!_ “What happened to your arm?”

She turned to look at him, then at the bandage. “This?” she asked, casually. And then she giggled. “Oh, I don’t know.”

He had to double take.

“It does hurt, but I just don’t remember.”

“And you don’t care?” he asked, confused.

She shrugged. “Accidents happen, I guess.” She then turned and strolled back, towards a different flower bed, humming happily. “But I’m okay. I think I just had a nightmare.”

He closed his eyes. Right, she didn’t know. Keep it like that. Deep down, he wished that it had just been a nightmare, for the both of them. It was weird, she hadn’t absolved him or condemned him, it was still all up in the air.

But he looked on at her curiously, and still felt that she was this forgiving, understanding, happy mammal. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. He went and grabbed the last planter, watching her enter the shed-come-greenhouse on the roof, before following. He sat down to try and gather his thoughts, as she gave another look at the plans. “Thanks for the help,” she said. “They were looking a bit worse for wear, but they’ll now all be in the sun, so should recover pretty quickly. Let me treat you. What’s your favourite food?”

He grumbled. He wasn’t hungry, he didn’t want anything from her, other than to be able to speak freely. The best thing in the world would be to have a time reset button, so he could test all these conversations out and see how things would go on. Still, he had to say something. “Well, I…” he began, before trailing off into another angst filled silence, humming and murmuring as he tried to think of something. “-Give me a second!” Would he scare her? He sandwiched the sides of his head with his paws, closing his eyes as he tried to sort out the unsortable muddle, never noticing Haru’s hopeful look turn down into a sad frown.

“Like the rest,” she mumbled, before looking up and glaring. “You’re almost like all the others.” Her ears then rose, and she smiled, walking over and shutting the blinds. He kept on rubbing his face with his paws, blindly lost in thought, as she began taking her clothes off. “I don’t really get turned on after taking care of plants, though.” Her ears raising a bit more, she smiled even further. “It’s my first time with a carnivore.” As if in contrast, his internal arguments, complete with external face shaking, reached a crescendo as she pulled off her clothes, approaching in just her underwear. “Is this your first time with a herbivore?” she asked, coyly, as his eyes opened, widening in shock.

“Huh!”

He gazed down speechless as she, almost nude, strolled up to him. “Don’t worry,” she said, smiling. “Even if you treat me roughly, I will enjoy myself.”

.

…

“ _Huhhhh… huhhhh… Huhhhh…?_ ”

Legoshi had no kind of clue on what the _hell_ was going on. He was frozen in shock as she casually walked up to him, undoing his belt and parting his shirt. This… this was some kind of rabbit greeting, right?

“Your belly hair’s the same colour as your face,” she mused, exposing his chest fur and running her paws through it. Was this how small mammals greeted each other!? If he could sweat, cold stuff would be coming out of his face, especially now as she unzipped his trousers and pulled them back and down. “I want to know where that leads to.”

And then everything snapped back into place. “Sto-sto-STOP!!!” he panicked, grabbing his trousers and pulling them back together. He glanced up at her in shock, his heart hammering in his chest.

“Not good at the romance,” she snarked. “Leaving me to do all the work.”

“I… Uhhh…”

“That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it…” she began, before trailing off. “Or did I…”

“Uh, -you’re cold, let me…”

“No, wait!” she ordered, making him freeze. Her ears were up and pivoted to the side, and she smirked a little. She looked up and smiled. “I’d have liked to have my teeth around your part for this next bit, but I can still make a good distraction.”

“Distra…” he began, before his ears swivelled as a scream rang out. He turned, just in time to see a pair of bunny feet sailing right for his eyes. They hit, hard, and he went tripping back into a desk as Judy ran and grabbed Haru.

“Give me that spray bottle,” she ordered, grabbing the white doe and pulling her away, all while unleashing a torrent of mist at his face. Dazed, he wiped it away, just in time for a hard splash to hit him.

“Ku… Ohh… What?” he mumbled, getting up just in time to see the new doe bringing down a rake onto him. He pushed his paws out and grabbed it, tearing it away as he stumbled to his feet.

“You’re going to pay!” the grey doe shouted, as she glanced over to a near-naked Haru.

“I…” Legoshi reacted. “She did…”

He was cut off by a metal watering can to the muzzle as the bunnies raced out, slamming the door closed behind them. He rubbed aching his nose and, shakily, got to his feet. Part of him was scared that his savage side might waken again, but most of him was just scared and confused _period_. “Wait…” he spoke, stumbling to the door and slamming into it, knocking himself back. “What?”

Outside, Judy and Haru thrust another gardening tool through the handles, locking it further. “The nerve of him!” Judy seethed. “I was wrong Haru, he was one of those sick guys, coming back to do sick things to his prey…”

“Actually,” Haru began, pausing as she heard him knock three times and say ‘excuse me’. “I only _thought_ he was here to do the sick thing.”

“What?” Judy asked, turning to face her.

“You remember our ‘first time’? Well, it kind of happened again.”

Judy stared off into the distance, giving an expression that wouldn’t be amiss at a DMV full of joke distracted sloths.

“Hey, it was part of the plan. What better way to stand up to him than have my teeth around his parts when you came?”

“When I said being brave,” Judy said, flinching away as the door shook. “I did not mean that. Why didn’t you run?”

“Because he was by the door,” Haru said, walking back. She saw his face emerge into one of the windows as he began working with the lock. “And I wanted to be brave like you. I faced up to him, didn’t I?”

“I… -okay, yes,” Judy said, sighing. “But getting a text saying ‘he’s here’ frightened me, you know?”

“Sorry,” Haru said, before looking back. “But we have him, don’t we?”

“Not for long,” she grumbled. “He could smash out of the greenhouse side if he wants. We have to knock him out. But how…” She looked around, her eyes widening as she saw a pair of gloves by her side, and the fruit section beyond. “I have a plan!”

Meanwhile, Legoshi was fed up. This was crazy. This was just all too crazy. He needed to get out, explain if he could and run if he couldn’t. Oh, he’d be running far, very very far. Jack could feed Kabu-chan, right?

He finally opened the rusty window lock and looked out, only for a green fruit to slap into his face. “Ah…” he grumbled, wiping it away before receiving another. He stood back. “I… I think there’s been a big misunderstanding!” he shouted, panting as he looked around. He peeked out again, only to see another green fruit sail his way. He caught it, then the next, dodging the third. “Listen… What’s… what’s your name? Was it Haru?”

He ducked as another fruit sailed right for him. It skimmed over the top of his head and he rubbed his crown. “Listen, I think we got off on the wrong paw… I think there’s a lot of miscommunication. Please… can we just talk this through?”

He tried to sideswipe another throw, only to get hit painfully in the eye. He rubbed it, hissing, looking out to see the white doe holding another one warily. “Okay…” she began. “But open that window wide and lean out. I want to be able to hit you if you try anything funny.”

“R-right then,” he spoke, letting it go wide open as he leant his head out.

“Thanks,” said the other doe, and he looked up to see her on the roof right above him, in the business of chucking down a rather large and spiky durian.

“Oh…” he began, before his world went black.

.

.

.

Legoshi groaned, his eyes fluttering. God, his head hurt real bad.

“ _Dammit…_ ” Someone spoke, before he felt a jolt of cold water splash up against his face. He came to with a start, flinching back from the bright lights and trying to scramble away, only to find that his paws were cuffed behind his back. He flopped down hard onto the dry ground, something biting into his jaw. Eyes opened, he realised that his muzzle had been wrapped shut with gardeners’ twine, the same stuff biting in hard to his wrists and ankles while tying the former to a drainpipe.

And then, to round off his captivity, he felt a heavy paw stop down onto his muzzle, pinning it to the floor. “Okay, Legosi, we’re going to have a talk.”

He looked up to see the grey doe standing above him, looking down and decidedly unimpressed. She was leaner, more athletic, a… No, he couldn’t really think of what she was compared to Haru’s rose, a runner bean perhaps?

Except she was pretty, in her own way, similar to the cheetah’s he’d seen about.

“Really, do you have nothing to say Legosi?”

“Legoshi.”

“Huh?”

“My name is Legoshi,” he said, looking down and sighing.

“And why did you come to the gardening club, huh?”

“I…” he began, looking up and trying to think of something to say. “-I came to get roses for the drama club?”

He whined as she pushed down with her foot. “-He’s right,” Haru interrupted. “Came with the plans and everything.”

“Okay then,” the grey doe noted, looking down again. “So, you came in, then you chose to take advantage of my friend.” She held up a paw to hold Haru off, staring down the wolf as she did so.

“I… Would you believe it if I said that was pretty much all on her?”

She kept silent.

“I was too busy trying to think about what to say about…”

“-About what?” she pressed, doing the same with her foot. He whined, looking down. A few jiggles with his body and paws yielded no result, letting a wave of hopelessness crash over him. This was it, wasn’t it?

“Last night…” he mumbled. “I was out by the theatre. I… I lost control.”

“What do you mean, lost control!?”

“-I don’t know!” he whined, closing his eyes and trying to tuck his head somewhere safe. “I… I was just feeling funny that night! I’ve never felt it before. I’m not like other predators, I don’t like being feared or talking about being a predator. But that night, I had to fight myself to not howl. And then I smelt your friend… -I didn’t know she was here, I swear. I came up, saw her, I couldn’t think what to do, so I thought I’d act natural and get out of it all. She’s a good mammal, she doesn’t deserve to be hurt, I didn’t mean to…”

He trailed off, realising where his confession was heading. The grey doe, fierce as usual, kept her eyes and foot on him. “Didn’t mean to what?”

He closed his eyes and breathed in and out. “Some… Some part of me woke up that night,” he said, shamefully. “Wanting me to be a predator. To hunt, to eat, and I tried to fight it. I did my best, but it was so hungry. I’m sorry I hurt her, I…” He paused, breaking off before huffing. “It doesn’t matter,” he sighed. “If you believe me or not, if they do or not, I’m getting locked away. Prison or the asylum, it doesn’t matter. As long as I’m away from others I might hurt. After all, it’s not gone away, I felt the urge come back a little when carrying one of the plant pots. Just do it, and you don’t have to fear me anymore.”

“Is that all?” the grey doe asked, holding off a little.

He nodded. “Just… -You’re lucky, being bunnies. I envy you.”

“Why would you envy us?”

“You don’t have to deal with being feared. Or fearing yourselves.”

Judy let go and backed off, waving Haru off with her as they retreated away. They kept an eye on Legoshi, even as they retreated out of his hearing range, before Judy brought out a carrot pen with an inbuilt voice recorder, speeding through his ‘confession’. “Well, it’s definitely enough to make even the most sceptical police officer believe us,” she said confidently, pausing as she looked at Haru. “What is it?”

“The way he was talking about losing control,” she mused, looking over at him and pondering. “It was just like that night.”

“His voice?”

“Yes, but also like he was fighting something.” She said, beginning to tap her foot as Judy sighed.

“He might be telling the truth, he might have some form of insanity,” Judy said. “Guys at the acting society were talking about how he feels shame for being a predator… But in that case, not getting him treatment would be the cruel thing to do. Heck, he even said that he wanted help. If we hand him over to the authorities, he could get help and maybe even be cured before he’s seriously harmed anyone and has that weight on his conscious for the rest of his life.” She smiled, only for it to fade. “Unless he already has… With Tem.”

Haru blinked, stepping back. “I didn’t think of that,” she muttered, glancing back at him. He’d sat up into a comfier position and was just waiting there. “Still…”

“Still, what?” Judy asked, pausing as Haru held up a paw. The white doe glanced over at the potted plants that he’d helped to move, then down at the rest of her crop, pausing as she spotted a suspiciously empty pot. Her brow furrowed.

“I have an idea…” she began, briefly tapping her foot. “Go up to him on his right, ask him about Tem, while I’ll come at him from behind.”

“Why…?”

“-It’s just an idea that might change everything,” Haru said, crossing her arms in front of her. “So before we send him to the police, I want to check it out. Now, are you going to help me?”

Judy sighed and nodded. “Might as well,” she said, making her way back towards the wolf. She approached him from one side, leaning against the wall so that his gaze was fixed on her. She could see Haru approaching from the other side.

“Look at me,” she ordered, Legoshi’s focus now solely on her. “You say you almost attacked and killed Haru.” Her brow furrowed further as she glared into him like a mound of earth needing to be burrowed through. “Did this happen before, did…”

“-No,” he shot out, shaking his head. “I didn’t kill Tem. After last night, I thought I might have, but… But I was in more dorm all the time. I wasn’t near him, I swear. Ask all my dorm mates and… -No, don’t ask them, I don’t want them knowing… Though… Though it doesn’t matter much anymore, does it?” He sighed. “They’ll know I’m a monster. But I didn’t hurt Tem. He was my friend, even if I lost all my memory I couldn’t have, I wasn’t there…”

There was a long pause as he looked down, all while Haru was approaching quietly from behind, holding something out. Judy looked up, curious, before glancing down at Legoshi. “To be fair, I did see you at the…”

“-GO!”

Judy stepped back as the wolf looked up, a sudden look of utter fear on his face. “What?”

“-I said go! It’s coming back! The savage side, I can feel it!”

“Wait, now!?” Judy asked, her ears folding back in fear. She glanced up to see Haru holding out a purple flower, practically over the wolf, who was now panting hard in fear.

“It’s there, it’s burning, if you want to stay safe go now and…”

He paused, his fearful looks unknitting themselves. Judy looked up to see that Haru had retreated far away. “It’s… it’s fading,” he said, sighing with relief. “But if you’re going to send me in, just do it now, before I harm anyone else. I don’t know why it comes or not, but it might come back… -It’s coming back!”

Judy looked up to see that Haru was coming back and around, holding out her flower again. Judy couldn’t help but be curious as she saw what it was. Why was she holding out a Midnicampun Holicithius flower? Legoshi meanwhile was urging her to run, to seek safety, before closing his eyes and focussing in on himself as Haru came alongside her. He was trying to push those instincts down, hard, yet the white doe seemed almost curious. She reached out and planted the flower on his lap, all while he squirmed some more.

“How bad is it?” Haru asked.

“I can control it, easy, but it might surge! It might end up like that night.”

“No,” she spoke. “This isn’t going to be anywhere like that. In fact, I’m pretty sure that those melodramatics aren’t needed. This isn’t even as bad as the silent urge you had earlier today, is it?”

“That’s not the point!”

“But it is far better.”

“Yes, but it might go there and past there again!” he shouted, finally staring the two in the eye. A mixture of frustration was inlaid into his fear.

Haru stepped forward, grabbed the flower, and retreated far back. The two watched as Legoshi’s fear and tension evaporated. “It’s… It’s going away now. I think. -But it might come back again!”

“It won’t,” Haru spoke. “The chances are, that night was a one-time thing and you couldn’t even harm a fly.”

He was confused, and not the only one. Judy looked to him and then Haru, her mouth agape, before crossing her arms. “Okay, what’s going on here?”

“When he mentioned feeling it come back when carrying the plants, I remembered something from my studies,” Haru began, holding up the delicate little flower. “These are nighthowlers, commonly used to keep bugs at bay on crops. They’re a controlled class C botanical, which means you need a license to use them. My final year project is seeing whether exposure to them in nurseries could enable prolonged health benefits to the plants once they’re planted in the wild, similar to how commercial crop seeds are often treated with fungicides.”

Judy looked on, confused. “Our family just calls them by their Latin name, we often used them for pest control. I know they’re controlled and toxic, but what would this have to do with anything?”

“Even those who get the license wouldn’t really know what they could do,” Haru said. “The assessment is there just to make sure you know how to handle a variety of toxic plants and the best cures to some, not to go into why each one is toxic. I know a few cures and methods for some major class C’s, but nighthowlers aren’t covered in that regard. But, as I’m studying them in detail, I know what they can do inside and out.”

Judy paused, before glancing down at Legoshi and then up at Haru. “You mean they’re what’s causing him to…”

“Well, didn’t you just see it there?” she asked. “He felt this urge build when the plants were closer, then go away when they were further away.”

“But then why don’t _we_ feel this, then?” Judy asked. “I don’t feel an urge to go chomp on anyone.”

“There are a few past cases of herbivorous mammals ingesting them,” Haru carried on. “Symptoms included heightened, even feral, aggression, along with cravings for food, including meat, and then heightened biosensitivity to the plants and pollen as long as the chemical is in the blood. I don’t think Legoshi here was being driven mad by some feral instincts. Somehow, he ate one of those bulbs. That night, when he attacked me, it was at its peak. Today, though, it’s being broken down by his body, but when he bent down to pick up the howlers, and when I exposed him to this one here, it started picking up again.”

Judy looked on, her eyes widening. She then snapped to Legoshi. “Oh gosh, are you okay?”

The wolf, who’d been following all of this. “Well… no… You’re saying I’ve been poisoned, right?”

“Yes, I think,” Judy replied, before glancing up at his head and cringing. “It was more that I dropped a durian on you.”

“I…” he began, before wincing. “My head does ache as well.”

“I’m so sorry, it’s just that I thought you were a savage, and you were here to hurt Haru, and maybe I did overreact,” she said. “But we know the truth now, and if this is going on we can get you treatment. Okay?”

“I… Okay,” he said.

“Still, though,” Judy began, her tone hardening again. “Why did you go around eating one of those things? Was it a dare? Did you not recognise it?”

“I…” he began, before shaking his head. “I’ve never seen or heard of them in my life. I don’t remember eating anything like that. I was just there after going to a party. Before that, it was a Wednesday so I had a scrambled egg sandwich for lunch. I… I’m still confused.”

“Judy,” Haru spoke, her voice suddenly worried.

“Yes.”

“I’ve had loads of these going missing for a while now. I paw-waved it as them dying, or birds. But…”

Judy turned to her, the same worried look on her face. “What if someone is taking them? Turning them into drugs.” She paused, then looked down at Legoshi. “Putting them in people’s drinks…”

“This is very bad.”

“It is,” Judy said, nodding. “If it’s true.”

“We can have him tested,” Haru said. “Talk to Professor Otterton, he might know how to check the levels in his blood. We can confirm if it’s there, and then call the police.”

“Right,” Judy said in agreement, turning to Legoshi. “Are you okay to walk?”

“If you release me, yes,” he said, wearily.

“Haru, get the shears. As for you, Legoshi, you’re coming with us to get tested. And no, you don’t have any choice in the matter.”


	6. A police mammal's lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This is one of my favourite chapters to write. While the end goals stayed the same during the writing process, bits I didn’t initially plan on writing ballooned out, just writing themselves, taking the focus away from other areas to the benefit of the overall plot.
> 
> As I’ve been prewriting ahead, to the point of being able to come up with new sub-plots and retroactively seed them in, I’ve also been approaching the end of the story. I’ve found out that I’m going to need one less chapter than planned, which is why the count has gone down on A03.
> 
> I’d also like to take this time to make clear that I’ve only watched season 1 of Beastars and read none of the manga. I have my own theories about what makes the characters tick and don’t know who is the canon murderer of Tem (if it’s even been released yet). To compound that, this is a crossover, so the whole ‘whodunnit’ aspect is based around the compound cast I’m working with. In short, I’ll almost certainly be wrong in my conclusions, but the main thing is that everyone enjoys this little ride we’re currently on.
> 
> Many thanks to the Zootopia Authors Association who did a readthrough of the first part of this chapter, helping with the proofing.

.

.

.

“The nighthowlers… The nighthowlers...”

Three sets of eyes watched as Professor Otterton paced up and down, before glancing at each other. “Is he always like this?” Judy asked.

Haru nodded. “Whenever he’s trying to think about something, he tends to speak them out aloud.”

“This is not just thinking about something,” the mustelid interrupted, sighing. He frowned, adjusting his glasses, before looking up at Legoshi. “I’m not a medic, I know nothing about blood work or the techniques around it, and I don’t have access to any of the technology that would make this easy.”

“But you’re still _the_ expert on _Midnicampun holicithius_ ,” Judy said.

“We just call them nighthowlers,” he grunted, “and yes, I am. What poor Legoshi there suffered certainly fits the bill of a severe nighthowler toxicity. I also wouldn’t put it past the police to throw him in holding first and, if they ever do get around to testing, it’ll be long since his kidneys have gotten it out of his system. Which will probably end up with either him in the dock for an assault he had no control over, or one of you two bunnies being charged for wasting police time or something if you decide to pull it. So, I’ve got to work out how to do this blood test when I know nothing about blood tests.”

“What do you tend to use to test for nighthowler contamination?” Legoshi asked.

The otter narrowed his eyes. “My nose.”

“Well,” Haru spoke, “there is one other possibility.” All eyes turned to her. “Early on, when wanting to see how well the pollen was getting onto my plants, I looked up reactive tests and found none.”

“Because there are none,” Otterton sighed. “Maybe with enough time I could devise one; you know, I’ve always wanted something named after me. Being a professor in botany and biochemistry doesn’t give much scope, but a nighthowler toxin test…”

“Well if you have the spare time you can work on it as a hobby or something,” Haru rebuked, taking him back a bit. “I needed a solution fast, needing a way to test how effective the stuff was at killing bugs. Then I realised exactly what I could use.”

Otterton snapped his fingers. “Oh of course!”

“What?” Judy asked.

“Bugs.”

Legoshi paused, blinking. “Bugs?”

“Exactly,” Professor Otterton spoke. “We ranked a bunch of common pests in the labs by how much they reacted to the Nighthowler, and then Haru would expose them to samples of our plants to see how badly they reacted. If we replaced the leaf cut-outs with blood droplets, it would have the same effect. It wouldn’t specifically prove the presence of Nighthowler, but it would show that something is in there that they don’t like.”

He flashed a smile down at Haru, who smiled back. Everyone smiled, except for a certain wolf. “What did those bugs ever do to you?”

“Huh?” Otterton asked.

“You’re killing poor innocent bugs, and…”

“Poor innocent bugs?” the otter gasped. “They’re horrible things, munching on our plants and crops. I’ve spent most of my entire career pursuing ways to get rid of them!”

Legoshi quivered a bit, before looking away. “Bugs aren’t horrible! They’re fascinating and cool. I think you’re horrible instead for murdering them.”

“Better them than my plants,” the professor huffed. “And cool? They’re ugly…”

“If you can’t see the beauty in a scarab beetle with its iridescent elytra, shining in the morning sun, or look on fascinated by the horns of the rhinoceros beetles of the _dynastinae_ family, or find all the different stripe and spot patterns pretty, then you don’t get a say in what ugly is!”

“If you really want ugly, look at the damage they can do to my plants…”

“-Can you play with a plant? No. Beetles can run along you or fly around, filing the air with the deep bass of their wingbeats…”

“Can you even eat them? No! Plants though…”

“We’re predators, we eat mealworms and stuff…”

“You don’t seem so worried about murdering those bugs.”

“You don’t seem so worried about eating your plants!”

“I don’t eat them…”

“And I don’t eat my bugs either!”

“GUYS!!!!”

The two predators were broken off, turning to look at the annoyed bunnies. Haru then walked up to Legoshi. “The test doesn’t actually kill them. The nighthowler-laced plants repel them away, and I can gauge the toxicity via the distance.”

The wolf blinked, relaxing with a large huff. “That sounds better…”

“Besides,” she continued. “I use aphids. I don’t know much about beetles, but wouldn’t those be the dandelions of the beetle world?”

“Uhhhh…” He muttered, looking up at the ceiling, his gaze flicking between the room’s corners. “I guess so.”

“Right,” she announced. “Let’s get this done.”

They were soon hard at work, getting out petri dishes and marking out the centre points as they placed them onto sheets marked out with distances. Many were used, including some whose centre soon contained water laced with varying amounts of nighthowler extract. Judy, standing back from it, paused as she heard Legoshi whine. Her ears went down. “Is it… you know?”

He nodded.

“But it’s not that bad, right?”

He sighed. “But it reminds me of what I could be… Nothing but a savage wolf to be scared of.”

Judy looked on at him, thinking. “You know, when I first heard about the gardening club, I was a little curious. But I chose not to go and forgot about it.”

“How come?” he asked.

“Well, it’s been my dream since I was a little girl to be a police officer, something different to what bunnies usually do. Something _very_ different to what my parents wanted me to do.”

His ears perked up a bit. “What did your parents want you to do?”

“Stay, or rather ‘settle’ as a farmer, as it was the safer thing to do.”

“They don’t grow durians, do they?”

Judy burst into laughter, only to freeze with worry. “Oh gosh. Sorry. Are you still hurt?”

“Now you reminded me of it,” he mumbled, paw going up to rub his head. “But it’s just a mild ache. The painkillers were very good. I don’t hold it against you.”

“Thanks,” she said, looking down before glancing up at him. She walked forward, a paw out and touching his. She glanced up at his head again.

“Seriously, feel it…”

She leant in to do so, her head passing his muzzle only for her to freeze as her ears picked something up. She leant back, blinking as she saw Haru’s ears up too.

“You heard that too?” she asked.

Judy nodded. “Sounded like a snap.”

Otterton shrugged. “Well I heard nothing. Might have been some gas in a pipe or something?”

Haru shrugged, as did Judy, the grey bunny turning back to Legoshi. “Anyway, I chose not to go to the gardening club as, well, it was kind of the thing that bunnies did. It reminded me of all of those things I was expected to be, so I chose to move away from it, even if I might really enjoy it.”

“That sounds a bit silly.”

“It was,” she said. “Especially when I saw how pretty it was, and how much fun Haru was having with it.”

He looked away, scratching behind the back of his head. “I guess you’re going to say that I’m silly now, for feeling bad about myself because of what others think about me.”

“Yup. Pretty much.”

“I get it. But I think you don’t. These aren’t silly things about how others think about me. They’re things that almost made me a murderer.”

“The instincts from that, maybe,” Judy said, looking on as Haru and Professor Otterton finished the set-up. “Someone did that to you, there’s no shame in what happened, and if there is, channel that into anger at whoever did it.”

“Okay…”

“But with the feeling bad about being a wolf, trying to hide yourself, feeling shame… Other people can see you doing that, Legoshi.” She walked up to him, resting a paw on his arm. “You don’t have to hide yourself, hide being a big bad wolf or whatever. Just hold your head high and be you, because the thing is, I don’t think you are a big bad wolf in the slightest. And being you, instead of trying to hide something that isn’t there, won’t just feel better for you, it will do a better job at showing them who you aren’t. They won’t be filling in any gaps with bad things. They’ll just see the good things.”

“Are you sure?”

“I mean, yeah,” she said, smiling before punching him lightly in the arm. “After all, I can’t get the image of a certain bug-geek out of my mind now.”

“I…” he began, before smiling. “I guess that makes sense. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, just as Haru and Otterton walked over.

“Okay,” the otter spoke, “I’ve got some needles that I’ll be sterilising in my Bunnsen burner. To make it more accurate, we should all give a sample to act as a control group. See what happens.”

They all nodded, before going over and starting the process. Pricks and hisses, followed by blood dripping into test tubes, then getting syringed out and placed down. Otterton finished first, but as he was handling everything it was Judy and Haru who got the first chance for a private chat. The white doe looked on at the grey one curiously, before whispering. “That wasn’t the reason you gave me for not joining the gardening club right away.”

“It isn’t.”

“Huh.”

“But he doesn’t need to know that,” she said, a cunning smile beginning to grow on her muzzle.

Haru smiled back. “Did your mother never tell you that lying is bad?”

Judy grinned some more, only to be broken off by a call from Otterton. They rushed over, and looked on at the petri dishes. The ones with the water and nighthowler extract showed a clear pattern, the crowded aphids staying ever further away the more concentrated the dose was. The controls, with just water, had them occasionally glancing the liquid. The same could be said for the various specs of blood that had been given by the bunnies and the otter. In fact, little red tracks could be seen spiralling out.

But a small minority of the dishes had the aphids staying a small, but distinct, distance away. All of them came from Legoshi, and all of his were them.

He breathed out, rubbing his face, before nodding. “So, it’s true.”

“It is,” Judy spoke. “You three, take pictures of the evidence and make sure it’s saved up. I’ll call the police and tell them that we have a potential clue about Tem’s murderer.”

.

.

Time passed slowly as the news of the police’s upcoming arrival was given. The various mammals did their own things to pass the time, Haru looking over the petri dishes. She paused as she heard Legoshi step up next to them, peering down and observing how they stood clear of the contaminated drops.

Haru looked at it, then down at them, then up at him again. “See, they’re not being harmed. Don’t you worry.”

He glanced over and smiled. “Yeah, nice and safe.”

Haru looked down at them, her gaze narrowing. These insects were the bane of her existence, after all. Yet the wolf seemed to love them, care for them, be interested in them, like… Like her gardening, and her plants. “You really love your insects, don’t you?”

“Huh… Oh yes,” he replied, nodding before looking down at them. Haru did too, not noticing him glance up at her, then at Judy, then back down at the insects again. He scratched the back of his head, before breathing in. “You know, I actually have a pet rhinoceros beetle.”

Her ears rose. “Do you? I never really got the idea behind getting a pet. Though I guess you might feel pride if you raised him from an egg, seeing him grow into a big strong pretty adult.”

“Yeah,” he said energetically a bit, pausing slightly before carrying on. “Though I didn’t actually raise him from an egg. I found him.”

“Found him?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “He was injured, tracking around in a circle, he wouldn’t have lasted long out there. So, I took him in, slipped him into my terrarium…”

“-Terrarium?”

“It’s the name for an insect habitat,” he explained. “Kabu-Chan has one with some sand and a nice bit of log to sit up on. Sometimes I take him out and let him walk over my paws, looking at him before putting him back in.”

“So you took care of him and gave him a home,” Haru said, nodding. “That sounds nice.”

“Thanks.”

She nodded, imagining him doing all the things he said to that tiny beetle, a gentle giant looking out for something she’d normally squish. Then again, with all the things he’d said about them, maybe they were interesting. “Say?” she asked. “Does he have any plants to walk around or such?”

“I…” he said, blankly, blinking a few times as his ears went down. “I never thought about it. It’s only a small place, I’m not even sure that any would survive.”

“Well why don’t you show me it, I could pick some hardy ones out,” she said, enthusiastically.

“Yeah, I can show you after this,” he said, looking happy.

Haru was too, until the fact that she’d have to go to his dorm slapped her like a wet fish. She glanced away and down. Yes, she knew it wasn’t his fault and that he was a sweety who wouldn’t hurt her (dammit, how he’d talked about his beetles had convinced her of that) but still… He was the mammal who’d… She shivered thinking about it, massaging her wounded arm and remembering what it was like to be captured prey. She knew it wasn’t his fault, she knew nothing would go wrong, but her instincts were screaming out regardless… Maybe it was the coward’s way out, maybe it would harm him, but she felt she’d have to decline it. She sighed. “Legoshi…”

“Oh, hang on,” he spoke, before he thrust his phone out to her. She blinked and relaxed, as she looked on at the sandy enclosure.

“There’s not much that can grow on plain sand like that,” she said. “Things like marram grass that grow on coastal sand dunes, for instance, but you’d really want flowers. Couldn’t you swap the bottom out for dirt?”

“I… Sure, why not?”

“In which case I can put in lots of hardy plants that don’t need much water. I… -hang on, how much light does this get?”

“Not much, I tend to keep it on my bunk, so it’s pretty shaded.”

“That’s a problem,” she sighed, pausing as she saw his ears and tails go down. “But one that can be planned around. There are plenty of plants that like the shade, though few that also like sand. But I could work up a quick list of things to put in.”

“I…” he said, smiling a little. “Thanks, I mean it. I’m sure Kabu-chan will love it!”

“Yeah,” she said smiling. She noticed him get a bit nervous, immediately raising a finger. “And if you’re worried about over and under watering, there are some spare water level detectors made by some other students sitting in a store room. A light will go on if you put in too much or too little, so you can just follow the guide while you work it out.”

He smiled. “That sounds good.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, as she turned back to the aphids. She was glad he made him happy and who knew? Maybe with things like this, their overlapping passions and similarities, they could become good friends. “Maybe beetles are cool,” she remarked.

“Of course they’re cool.”

“Yeah,” she replied. “Don’t think you can get me to like aphids though.”

His mouth piqued as he looked in closer. “Maybe not, but they are interesting.”

“How come? They’re little green bugs that nibble on my plants.”

“Well, did you know that they’re the only animal that can photosynthesise?”

She blinked, looking up at him. “Really? They’re green as they’re filled with chlorophyll?”

“Sort of,” his said, waving his paw a bit. “I read that they actually inherited the ability from certain types of fungus. But still, they can generate their own food from light. They’re also one of the few insects that give birth live, and don’t need males to do it. Male aphids do spawn in the autumn, and they reproduce sexually before staying as eggs over the winter, but most of the time they just clone themselves and give birth live. The new babies are actually born pregnant with the new generation inside of them, and so on, like those Russian dolls.”

Her mouth hung open, before she dove back down to look at them closer. “That can’t be right, it…” She paused as she noticed a tiny green aphid hanging around the legs of a regular sized one. “-It gave birth…”

“Yeah,” he said. “Another interesting thing is that when they penetrate the leaves to suck up the sap, it goes out too fast for them to fully digest, so they excrete a sweet substance called honeydew.”

“Ewww…”

“Ants then protect the aphids, farming them, and by stroking their abdomen they can then milk them to get the stuff out.”

“Well, that’s the ants being cool, not the plant munching aphids. You probably have an ant farm too.”

“No, not really,” he said.

“How come?”

“I find ants boring.”

“Boring?”

“Yeah. Everyone goes for ants. They’re overrated. I mean, leafcutters would but cool to look at but I can’t keep them, same for honeypots. Regular ants are small, grey and boring. Overrated.”

Haru rolled her eyes. “Like roses I guess.”

“Roses? But roses are pretty, you have loads of them.”

“They are pretty,” she admitted. “But everyone goes for roses, when there’s so many nicer flowers.”

“You know, we met when I was asking for roses…”

She looked up at him. “Maybe I could recommend some more interesting flowers to use. Repayment, for the durian.”

“Didn’t Judy drop the durian on me?”

“I’ll extract repayment from her later.”

There was a pause, before Legoshi smiled and let out a little guffaw. Haru held off for a bit before giving in too. Judy walked over, ready to ask what was going on, only for them all to be cut off by a knock on the door.

A massive police officer walked in, the huge cape buffalo staring them down. “Alright. My name is Major Bogo…” He scanned around. “This should be good.”

.

.

.

“Do you have any more samples of the wolf’s blood?”

“I made sure to take an extra sample of Legoshi’s blood,” Judy explained, handing it over. “With this preliminary evidence, it should easily be enough to run a more advanced blood test, comparing the abnormalities against this.” She brought over a nighthowler plant. “-And, you could also take a blood test a bit later, when his kidneys have removed even more of it.”

Professor Otterton nodded. “I believe that, statistically at least, all of it should be removed from his system after another twenty-four hours.”

“Right,” he nodded, scratching his head. “What you’ve just given me is unusual and disturbing. I thought this was a simple murder investigation, now it’s a drugging one as well. Anywhere were you might have ingested it?”

Legoshi nodded. “I guess the party I went to, the night of the first incident. But there were so many mammals there, it could have been anyone.”

“For any reason. Maybe this was someone trying to create his own date rape drug. Just what we needed. I’ll do my best with what you gave me. Thank you.”

He turned to walk out, only to pause as he heard someone speak up. “It was good investigation, wasn’t it?” He turned, to see the grey bunny fumbling with her paws. “I mean, we looked at the evidence, used what we knew, it was good police work.”

“Is this going anywhere?”

Judy stood up. “My name is Judy Hopps, I’m doing a criminal justice degree, and once the MII passes I plan to become a police officer in Zootopia.”

He blinked a few times. “Okay then,” he said, turning to leave.

“-But I did good, right…?”

He turned and stared her down, her nose twitching. “I’d argue that trying to take down a potentially dangerous wolf by yourself, whatever the situation, was a highly reckless move that put you in extreme danger. I’d also chastise you for not reporting it right away, though your delay did make sense given the emotional state of the witness. And, while you had a theory and explored it, having benevolent enough reasons not to hand your suspect over right away, it was still reckless to a degree.”

Otterton coughed a few times. “I’d say less reckless than putting a vulnerable mammal into your hooves and letting him be railroaded along.”

Bogo glared at him, before glancing over to Legoshi. “Denial aside, you should have committed yourself as soon as possible. Though I hope you’re never in a situation where you have to make that choice again. We’ll likely be calling on you in the future, same for all of you, you might be critical in a court case.”

He turned down to Judy. “If there’s one thing we don’t want at the ZPD, it’s officers who take unnecessary risks. I’d rather you stay a carrot farmer all your life than there being a chance of me having to attend your funeral. Understand?”

She nodded meekly.

“I will say though, you were all unexpectedly clever.” He paused, thinking, looking down at Judy before snorting. “Rest assured, if you do get to apply to the academy, contact me and I can put a word in.” He handed over a card, the grey doe suddenly jumping up and down on her toes in excitement. “And, if you come to my precinct, at which point I might be chief, I promise you I will treat you exactly like I treat every other rookie. “

“I… Thanks sir,” she said, her paw coming up in a hard salute. Bogo turned to leave, giving her one last glance.

“At ease, civilian.”

.

.

“You know, Judy,” Haru began. “You shouldn’t work for someone with a stick up his butt like that.”

She nodded. “I get that, but…”

“But?”

“Well,” she said, sighing a bit. Night had come, everything was darker and colder, and a chill wind was in the air. “Everything he said… was kind of right.”

Legoshi nodded. “Yeah. I get that too.”

“But still, he shouldn’t have been so mean on her.”

“Could have been worse.”

“How?”

“He could have arrested her, and then me for that matter.”

“What? Why?”

“I almost ate you,” he said, shrugging. He paused, it felt odd saying it so deadpan, but it seemed okay… It was the truth, but he wasn’t at fault, he hadn’t overthought about it… -Okay, he was overthinking about it now. Maybe try and stop it? Yeah. Stop it.

“And what did Judy do?” Haru asked, as he thought.

“Huh?”

“I asked what did Judy do?”

“She knocked me out with a durian.”

“Yes, but…”

“You do know that they’re dangerous? In many places they fine you if you take them on a subway or in a hotel.”

Judy burst down laughing. “That’s because of the smell.”

Legoshi smiled a bit. His head still ached, but… everything was okay. He wasn’t mad, but he didn’t feel bad anymore either. This was nice, the bunnies were nice, he could live with this. “I’m going to have to live with that forever. Some bunnies dropped a durian on me.”

“I…” Haru said, relaxing and smiling too. “You shouldn’t forget the one who splatted you with wolf apples.”

“Wolf apples?”

“Yeah, named after maned wolves, who eat them. Don’t get so egocentric.”

Legoshi smiled again, before relaxing. “Thanks…”

“Huh?” Judy asked.

“For everything. For seeing past who I was… -who I looked like, and finding the real me. You don’t fear me, and I can just be me around you. That’s… that’s something special.”

Judy looked back and smiled. “Hey, Legoshi. Just us making the world a better place.” She then paused, frowning, looking forward and whispering. “Keep moving forward and talking. I think someone is following us.”

There was a pause, everyone blinking, before the grey doe marched on, gesturing at them to catch up. That they did, an awkwardness in the air. “I can’t sniff anything,” Legoshi said. “But if I can…” He leant down to scratch his leg, giving a glance back. “I think I saw something move.”

“Right,” Judy said, “this way, quick.” She turned into a small walkway between two buildings, speed walking through it before cutting left, then right, then right again and again. They crossed over their old path before going right two more times, crossing their old paths twice. All the time, they kept their eyes, ears and noses peeled.

They got out of the other end and pushed into a garden area, pausing in the centre, beneath a lone lamppost, standing under its orange light like a moths to a flame. “Think we lost them?” Haru whispered, shaking a little.

He nodded and was about to speak, only for the two bunnies to flinch, their ears swivelling.

“What was that?” Haru asked, looking around. It hit them all at the same time that they were alone, in the woods, and that something was out there. Something that was hunting them. The bunnies had heard it first with their better hearing, but then Legoshi heard it too. Quiet, but coming ever closer, snapping branches, crunching leaves and moaning. He stepped forwards without even realising it, his paws out to protect the smaller bunnies. Haru meanwhile was holding Judy hard and tight, the grey doe giving her a hug back before breaking off to face the mammal with Legoshi.

A foot pushed in front of her, holding her back. Legoshi vaguely realised what he was doing just as the bushes in front of them rustled, a figure emerging out. It stumbled around, sometimes on all fours, sometimes on its hind legs with its big tail used for balance. Fur messy, clothes dishevelled, it panted hard and fast and held its eyes tight, fighting a battle with itself, groaning and moaning as it went. A cloud moved, moonlight lit it, its cheery clothes and red fur becoming clear to see for the bunnies.

Legoshi already knew what is was.

Who it was.

“Nick?”

Judy gasped. “You know him?”

He groaned. “He…”

She turned to face him. “Nick. What’s going on?”

“Help…” He turned to look at her, and she jolted back. His eyes were slits.

Haru saw it too, and knew exactly what it meant. “He’s been drugged too. He’s the next victim.”

He began shaking, closing his eyes and moving his head around in a set of strange contortions.

“I know what it is,” Legoshi said. “It’s a plant, nighthowler, someone drugged me and now drugged you.”

He looked up, spotting the bunnies. “Feel hunger…” he whimpered, beginning to stumble away.

“Yes, but fight it, you can fight it! Look, you’re going away, that’s better than I managed!”

“You can do this Nick!” Judy shouted.

“Run…” he gasped, stumbling back. “No muzzle. Please no. I go…”

“Nick…” Judy began, but it was no use. He turned, dropping down onto all fours and racing back into the undergrowth.

Judy ran after him, only freezing after a few steps, willing herself to stay put. “Legoshi, escort us back to our dorms.”

“Huh?” Haru asked. “What are you doing?”

“The right thing,” Judy said, bringing out her card. “Staying out of danger and calling the police.”


	7. The Cursed Number

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks to the guys at the ZAA forum for helping to proof this. Also, for those not aware, the hiatus on my main series (Fantastic Foxes of Zootopia) will be ending soon. I plan to publish the first chapter of the finale come the 1st of May... 
> 
> For those not aware, it's episodic in nature, and the last one released was 'SavageSkyeHaidSukoWildeHopps' a stand-alone triple date fic between Nick and Judy, Jack and Skye, Haida and Retsuko. If you're interested, you can still pick it up right off the bat. On fanfic, go to the relevant chapter on 'Fantastic foxes', or on a03 filter through the series and find the stand alone episode.
> 
> Incidentally, I recently wrote a stand alone one-shot (to go into my oneshot collection), and plan to release it on the same day given that it's the anniversary of an event touched in the fic.
> 
> Mysterious, mysterious. Anyway, enough of me. On with the thing you all came for.
> 
> .

.

* * *

.

Louis groaned.

His leg hurt.

It wasn't long since he'd injured it, catching an actor falling from the stage. It was a simple twist, nothing more, but it had not gotten better with time. Instead it had swollen, expanded, pulsed with each beat of his heart and flared whenever he put weight on it.

Of all the times it could act up.

He slowly filed through the local newspaper, his nostrils flaring as he read the reports. A savage predator. Many witnesses had seen one last night, acting like a beast out of an old gothic performance, hunching in the shadows, panting, groaning and moaning as it ran. Nobody knew who or why, but everyone had figured out what. A fox. A red fox.

Louis wasn't sure whether to be angry or just disappointed, there were always some who liked to present foxes in a certain light. He'd bumped into that ewe earlier, telling some of her cohorts that they had a right to be scared, a right to worry.

He had too, for very different reasons. Right now, everything was at risk of falling apart and everyone needed their dose of hope. That was what the performance was supposed to show, his role leading the way.

But his leg.

He closed his eyes and put down the paper. The police had mentioned that they believed some kind of drug was being planted in others drinks and, though some students would not be tempered on the anti-fox or anti-predator fears being stirred up, they weren't the ones at risk from a potential predator targeter. Those at risk might take more care with their drinks, those at fault might think again, and the police were getting involved. Law and order making its mark on the ugly reality, putting it right.

Just like he had to put this right now.

Up he went, hissing every time he stepped on his bad leg. Limping, leaning to the side, he slipped on his costume before looking out towards the assembling cast. A Breath in, and he held himself up ramrod straight. In a way, he realised, they didn't matter anymore. They weren't important.

This was going to be his battle, his alone.

Still, he was expected to rally the troops. He paraded in front of them, the General leading the charge as he spoke. "There are freshmen beyond this curtain, excited to watch our show for the first time. Don't worry, do as you rehearsed. The rehearsals were good." He was lying through his teeth, they were poor. The actors, lined up and standing to attention, didn't need to know that though. "Our bonds stayed firm, even after the incident." _Bonds, huh…_ Did those even matter now? Out there, someone was trying to unpick them and, in here, he was the one who had the best chance, the responsibility, to show how they could be pieced back together. Their bonds to each other didn't matter. What mattered was him, something thrust into sharp focus as a jolt came up his leg, any reaction to it cast to the side as he maintained his composure. "This is a special club, what we show on stage is how both predator and prey can live to their full extent. Understand?"

The world out there was understanding it less and less, they needed to be shown how to do so again. But to do that he had to shoulder the burden, he had to be allowed to shoulder the burden. He stared at his actors, willing them to do their one duty, to devote themselves to him so he could carry out this one crucial task.

They barked out "yes" and his expression stayed level. Inside, though, he smiled. That was right. This was now his battle, to win.

.

.

Far up above, Legoshi was standing at his position, paw on one of the lights. Checking the controls for the other systems, he went through what he had to do to keep them going. He had a duty, after all.

He paused as he felt a paw on his own.

"Doing okay?" Judy asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, fine."

They kept quiet, looking down at the theatre hall below. The students were sitting down, waiting in eager anticipation for the performance to begin. Legoshi's right ear perked as the little speaker chirped into it. "Louis is on in one," he remarked, as he leant over, bringing his paw out and gently nudging Judy away from his controls. "Excuse me," he spoke, softly.

"If you want me to go…" she began, before he shook his head.

"I just need the space to do my job," he said, leaning over to the main light. He paused, glancing at her. "Any news back from the police?"

She shook her head. Last night, after seeing Nick under the effects of the same drugs that had almost claimed Haru's life and may have killed Tem, they'd called Bogo and he'd turned right back to the campus. They'd given him all the details, Legoshi and Haru mentioning what they knew, before he began receiving calls in. Reports of a savage beast stalking the campus, scaring others. Thankfully, no-one seemed to be hurt, but as the morning papers had shown the press had had a field day. It was almost causing more fear than if there'd been an actual attack.

Annoyingly, Judy grumbled, her parents had also heard about it. ' _Oh goodness Judes! -It's too dangerous! -Do you have a fox TAZER? -I can send that and some Fox rep down right now! -Oh, I knew it was a mistake having you go so far away from your family. -We love you, don't you know? -Just say the word and any time, any when, I'll come down and pick you up… -Heck, if there's another attack or something I'll pick you up… -I won't take no for an answer, I'll pull you back by your ears if it's what taken to keep you safe… -Judy, sometimes I really think the biggest danger to you is yourself, don't you know? -Yes, but any good parent would do what they need to do to keep their kit safe, even if it's them being too reckless… -Listen, I'd rather you hate my guts for the rest of my life for forcing you to have a normal bunny life than having you dead. That's just the way being a parent is._ '

Very annoying…

She sighed. As if to add to it all, they'd been informed that Nick Wilde had gone AWOL from his dorm. Vanished, ran away, it didn't matter how you put it. While only wanted for questioning, he'd disappeared as if he was being pursued by Adler the Reaper himself. She thought back to him, looking up to the wolf beside her. They'd both filled each other in on what they knew of him, the big thing learnt in her mind being that he seemed to have been hurt in the past. He said it himself to Legoshi: _'they made their bed and now they can sleep in it'; 'I once wanted to be brave, loyal, helpful trustworthy…'; 'I was hurt being that naïve, and maybe if you try and fight what you are then you'll get hurt too. Not just by disappointment, either_ '. He was likely just as scared as Haru and Legoshi had been, running off, and that meant that the real villains had more time to strike again, whoever they were.

Another thing that had briefly piqued their attention was how he'd been able get around and in front of them when he should have been behind them all. Judy briefly worried that there might have been two mammals out there that night, but if there were then, thankfully, the second one hadn't caused much fuss.

Legoshi's earpiece buzzed again. He turned on his heavy stage light and Judy looked on, watching Louis, dressed up in his crimson cloak, holding his scythe, the skull of a water deer as a helm, race out and land prone on the stage. She couldn't help but notice him slip ever so slightly, on the leg she remembered him avoiding putting weight onto before. He held though and soon, his voice commanding, his performance was on again. Fierce in resolve, he defended his young charge, protecting her from the spirits of the elements, out to claim her as was preordained.

But what was meant to be, written out by those long ago, was not the destiny that they would accept. Adler fought back, defending with all his might, running when he had to. He trembled in their presence, his breath and motions were guttural, intense, convincing…

And Judy began to wonder. She'd grown up in a big family, a huge one, and that meant you always came across those who were trying to hide something. A secret. A mistake. An injury. And right now she was becoming more convinced by the second, Louis was in serious pain. His trembles, his groans, his sharp breaths were all genuine; everything else was the act.

She leant on the edge of her seat, to the point that Legoshi put his paw forward at one point, worried that she'd slip off and out (there wasn't a long fall down from their gantry, but it would be embarrassing.) She pointed it out to him, and soon he was feeling the same way. At the same time, though, the rest of the crowd were seeing his pained movements and sitting on the edge of their seats too. What next for Adler? Could he break off the yoke of the old, the forced scribes of destiny…?

He did. Battling hard, freeing the predators and prey, the men and women, everyone, from the roles they were ascribed. Freeing them to become their ultimate selves, the peak of their ideal, to live without fear or self-doubt, with utmost faith in themselves and who they were.

Judy was edging her way down, reaching the edge of the stage, as the curtain call came. She was there, looking at him from below, as he and the other actors were bathed in applause, taking their bows. The curtain falling, she couldn't help but notice him break character for a second, smiling in pride and relief, before he collapsed onto the stage.

She raced up, piercing through the confused actors, before reaching his leg. "I know first aid," she spoke, quickly leaning over to his head and pulling his head up. The mask came off, his eyes were closed and so she opened one. A click of her fingers, no response. A flash of her phone's flashlight, his pupil shrunk. She made sure he was in a recovery position while giving the order to call an ambulance. Someone said that they'd already called the on-site medics, who'd be with them in five minutes.

She nodded, moving down to his leg and pulling off his trousers.

She winced back at the sight of the injury, as did many others. Huge, swollen, turning purple beneath the fur. Something was wrong, horribly, horribly wrong. Outside, mammals didn't seem to notice, busy discussing the play and filtering out. Back here though, she made way to let some medics pull him up onto a stretcher.

That would be that, were it not for a chance glance at the underside of his leg.

There, the fur was turned white. A freeze brand in the shape of a number four.

It might be nothing, she thought. It might be nothing at all, or a harmless prank, or something done while drunk. It had to be.

Because, on all her curious watch-throughs of true crime documentaries, she'd seen something like that once before. Something evil, something sick, something on the edge of society that nobody wanted to believe existed and yet, logically, would always be there.

But it didn't make sense at all. After all, how did Louis become the heir to the Horns Conglomerate if he was born a slave?

.

.

She waited with the other members of the drama club by his bedside, watching as his leg was put into a rough splint. It was a break.

Somehow, he'd lived with that since she'd met him in the office. Before that, even. One part of her was amazed that he'd carried on for so long, that he hadn't even said anything or tried to seek help. But, as she and the others waited, she reflected on something.

The fact that she and him were very alike.

Would she do something like this? After all, how many times had she said that she didn't know when to quit. She always held it up as a boast, a retort to those who put them down, a central facet of who she was. It was a good thing. But was it? What if it was a flaw…?

It wasn't as if she didn't have time to ruminate on it all. Louis was single minded, he'd probably decided that he'd star in that performance, heck, that he'd lead it, and nothing was going to get in the way of that. If anything, it was his responsibility, his way of making the world a better place. She remembered how she'd spotted him smile before he fainted, relieved that he'd done it, he'd completed his mission.

What would happen if she had an injury near the end of the police academy? Or something bad happened to her family? A little part of her told her that she would downplay it, she would have come so close to her dream, almost touching it, and now it was worth bearing the pain to achieve it. But that was different to this, wasn't it?

Was it?

Then again, it was Louis' choice. He'd achieved his mission, maybe now he could rest happy.

She looked on as his eyes fluttered and he woke up, seeing the rest of his friends out in front of him.

"Louis!" one of them spoke, and then they were all rushing up to him, calling his name. With one powerful motion he pulled himself up, his head still pointing down as he regained his senses. "Louis!" said a goat. "Louis!" said a zebra. Finally, he raised his head to look at the crowd, now quietening out. "I…" he spoke groggily, before his eyes widened. Now fully alert, he looked down at the tip of his muzzle as he brought his hooves to his mouth. "No. Tell me," he spoke, aware but worried. "Did the audience notice?"

He turned around to look at the other cast members, who were all silent, taken aback by the suddenness of the question. She looked up, spotting Legoshi looking down with the rest of them, before she chose to take action. "Don't worry," she said, stepping out beside him. "You fainted just after the curtain came down. They didn't notice a thing."

His eyes met hers and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Good…"

"Yeah," Bill the tiger chimed in. "And it's eight-o-clock now. You're in the nurse's office, she says your leg is broken. There's no way you can perform tomorrow night."

And now Judy couldn't help but feel that Louis looked like he was stuck in a pair of headlights, his expressions just freezing in a visage of muted shock. "Bill…" she scolded.

"What? Why should we wait any longer before giving him the truth? I mean, I'm sure Louis can handle it."

"But still," she began, before looking over. Now he was looking down, depressed.

"Bill is right though," someone else said.

"Did he break it during the play?" someone asked.

"He had it before then," Judy corrected. "He performed it all with a broken leg." She winced as she remembered all the hard-hitting footwork throughout. How much pain had he been in?

"Louis," someone else spoke "Your performance was awesome."

Other words and discussions began spreading, Judy almost slipping in again only to realise that the injured party was being ignored. She turned back to him, only to see him staring down, his brow knitting in frustration. Of course it would be, this was his masterpiece, torpedoed. How would she feel if she couldn't make the final ZPD academy test due to an injury? She reached out to hold his hoof, bunching up as it gripped his duvet, only for her paw to be flicked away as soon as she touched his.

"What is this?" he almost hissed, all attention suddenly drawn back to him. "Treating me with kid's gloves? It's only a broken leg."

He stared up, Judy backing off. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that…"

He glanced down at her and nodded before sitting up, staring straight ahead. "Bill."

"Yeah?" the tiger asked.

"Will you fill in for me?"

"Huh…"

"Tomorrow, you will be Adler."

The tiger blinked, backing off in confusion, before his face was overcome with elation. "Really? Can I do that?"

"Yes, of course," Louis spoke, "you are one of my hardest working actors. And the fact that you didn't pussy-foot around about my injury is quite endearing. That's why I chose you."

Everyone looked at him, then at the tiger, before starting to clap. He bowed. "Thank you. Thank you. I will do the part justice! But what about my part…?"

Louis nodded in appreciation. "We need someone strong and intimidating to fill in for a tiger," he said, giving a level glance over at Kai. The mongoose blinked a few times before frowning, but was otherwise silent. There was a long pause, before a voice spoke up.

"I could…"

All eyes turned to Legoshi. Judy blinked a few times before smiling, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Louis was smiling too. Bill looked at the grey wolf and chuckled, before launching into a body slam against him. "LEGOSHI!" he cheered, the wolf stumbling back a bit and blinking from the impact. "Finally decided to stop skulking about in the shadows!?"

He glanced down at Judy, before looking back at the tiger. "Yeah," he said, glancing to his side and scratching behind one of his ears. "Thought I'd be a bit more outgoing for a change."

He was shaken as Bill slid up to him slapping his paw on his back before drawing it out, lunging back in to shake the wolf's. Legoshi winced a bit from the hard grip. "A wolf and a tiger, two big powerful, proud predators. Let's show them what we can do."

Throwing the paw down, Legoshi stepped back a bit before nodding. "It'll be me there, but it'll be good."

"Yes," Louis said, observing the both of them. "But for now, I think we'll need you two to go and learn your lines. Someone will also have to take over the lights from Legoshi."

Judy blinked, before holding her paw up. "I was up with him today; I think I get the basics."

"It's appreciated," he said, "but a few others have firmer experience with the lights."

"I practiced as a reserve lighter," one of the mammals spoke.

Louis nodded. "Very well. You should all leave to practice your lines. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day." They all nodded, before filtering out, giving him their goodbyes, best wishes and get well soons. He watched them all leave, all except one. "Anything to talk about, Judy?"

She shrugged, before looking down at his leg. "It wasn't nothing, I see…"

He gave a slight harrumph. "I suppose not. Still, the important thing is that the performance was a success."

"It was incredible," she admitted. "You don't need to see yourself as a failure or anything."

"I…" he began, before shaking his head. "Duly noted."

There was a long pause, before she sighed. "I was up on that stage, treating your leg, and I noticed something."

"It's nothing," he spoke harshly, looking away.

"I…" she began, speaking out as if she were stepping on thin ice. "I watch a lot of true crime documentaries, and one I saw a while ago involved a musk mill. Keeping skunks as slaves, in cages, every month or so forcing a tube in to draw out their musk, selling it cheaply on the black market. Those they traded with, they'd mark, and…"

"-Number four," he spoke out, hard.

"I just… They said many different black-market trades exist, and I saw that and I was wondering…"

"It's a cursed number," he spoke, glancing at her. "You tell no-one, you do your best to wipe that from your memory! And then, you act as if you never saw it, do you understand?"

"I…" she stuttered, taken back by his sudden forcefulness.

"Do. You. Understand!?"

She paused, nodding. "I'll keep it a secret, as that's your wish. But whatever happened to you, however it happened to you, it's nothing to be ashamed of, you're…"

"I am not a victim," he spoke, cutting her off. "I am not weak."

There was a pause, as she stepped forwards, her paw reaching out. "Whoever said that a victim is weak?"

She touched his side and there was another, long, pause, after which he chose to carry on ignoring her. "Tell no-one," he ordered.

"I won't… I don't know what it would be like to be held, to be farmed for your antlers, to…"

"Fawns don't get antlers until they're thirteen, I lost my spots well before," he corrected, seemingly out of habit. There was a pause, Louis giving the same stuck in headlights look, before staring away. Judy shook slightly. She could only imagine two things that they'd keep him for in such a case, and both were too dreadful to contemplate.

"Judy," he spoke.

"Yes?"

"Evidently, you'll keep on asking, keep on being curious, it will keep on gnawing at your mind. So, given that I trust you not to speak, it'll probably be better if I just out with it now. Be warned though, if you do speak to others, I will make you come to regret that. Understand?"

She breathed in and nodded. "I do."

He sighed, breathing out. "Do you want a closer look?"

He pulled the sheets back and she climbed up onto the bed, trying to peer at it. He pulled the leg back so she could, thought it seemed that the number was mostly obscured beneath the bandages. She could still see some of it though, peeking out of the top. She glanced up at him and he nodded, letting her gently pull them apart, seeing it in all its mundanity. She let it go and turned back to him, only for him to wince and hiss.

"Sorry!" she spoke, briefly pausing as she heard some running outside. The ward was mostly underground, the high windows opening up onto the kind of bushes and flower beds that Haru looked after, and looking up she thought she could see the branches rustling and waving before coming to a stop. She was sure someone had been there…

"It's nothing," he hissed, still talking about his leg.

Judy, still keeping an ear peeled up above, nodded. Off the bed and standing up, she glanced at his ankle before looking back up at him. "Sex or meat?"

"Meat," he spoke. "I'm not sure if you've heard of the black market."

"I have," she said. "But that's mainly poor old prey who make a deal with mobs and stuff. Many mafias own the funeral homes and hospices. The victims agree to be carved up and sold up when they die, their families receiving a windfall. Enough to wipe out a son's debts, or put a grandchild most of the way through college."

"What do you think of it?"

"I…" she began, her nose twitching. "It's horrible!"

He nodded, before shrugging. "But, arguably, is it ethically wrong?"

"Of course it is!"

"Where does it cause harm?"

"I…" she began, before looking down, hard. "It attacks the very things, the very levels of decency and respect, that hold our people together. You go on about the importance of unity between pred and prey, surely this is a key part of that."

"Oh, in a way I completely agree with you," he mused. "Then again, what would happen if it turned out to be the only way to keep our society together… The necessary evil, what then?"

"I don't happen to think it could ever be necessary," she said.

He shrugged. "With these predators, who knows? The police say it's a drug in the drinks, but maybe that's a lie. Another necessary evil too. All to keep society together."

"It's the truth," Judy spoke. "I'm the one who found it out."

"Huh?" He turned, looking at her. "You found what out?"

Judy began to speak, only to stop herself. "Your story first. Quid Pro Quo."

He paused, nodding. "Very well. Quid Pro Quo. There's that aspect of the black market, ninety nine percent of it, which I'm inclined to turn a blind eye too if it preserves the peace." There was a long pause. "The other one percent? Well, some elite predators with those urges want to try some prime cuts. I don't remember who my birth family was. I just remember growing up in a cage, that cursed number on my ankle, and the knowledge that when a fellow prey mammal was taken out, they were being taken to their deaths." He paused, frowning. "When it was my cage-mates turn, I kicked and screamed to protect him, and when the buyer swapped to me I didn't stop. I never really noticed that the one leading me out was one of my own kind. I won't say what happened next, other than that I proved myself to him. He's my father, born infertile which was why he went to adopt me. I grew up and, ever since, have done what I can to preserve the unity between pred and prey, to show that we can live together and built a society. Because I lived through what happens when that society fails, when the ends begin to fray and fall apart, and I will not let anyone else suffer the same thing."

Judy stepped back, not sure what to take in about all this. If anything, it would make more sense if his outlook on life was that of that ewe, Dawn Bellwether, wanting preds to stand aside and hide themselves in the shadows. Instead, Louis embraced them, idolised them. Part of her wondered if it was something that he'd internalised, believing that he needed to make himself strong, to be a predator, to keep himself safe. Maybe, after his rescue, he saw the modern status quo, law and order, and clung onto it hard like a life raft, determined to never let go. Whatever the case, she realised that however his views had formed after, they would not budge and could not be budged. The only way to change them would be to bring a sledgehammer in and destroy all he held dear, something she didn't have had heart to do.

"Quid pro quo," he spoke, and she jumped out of her thought process.

"Right," she said, tapping her foot. "It started a while back, when I met a new friend, Haru."

"I know her," he spoke. "White rabbit doe. I could see you two getting along."

"We do," she said. "But, after one of her last meetings, she called me. The night before, a wolf had attacked her. She'd been walking back home, only for him to lunge at her, gripping her tight. Afterwards she said that he seemed to be struggling, trying to resist 'primal urges' or whatever to eat her. He'd almost lost when he was distracted by a noise, she breaking free."

She paused, noting that Louis was looking on silently, before carrying on.

"She explained it all to me and we chose to report to the police, together, at the end of the day. Before that, though, I got a text. The wolf was back, at the gardening club. I ran in, helping to knock him out, before tying him up and getting a confession out. He admitted to it, and losing control, but on mentioning feeling the instincts coming back while moving some plants, she had an idea. She's working with a plant called nighthowler and knows a lot about it, including the fact that when ingested, it causes aggression. Some of her howlers have been going missing. She moved one closer to him, without him knowing, and he panicked, the instincts coming back. Moved it away, they went away. Ingesting some causes an increased bio-sensitivity to others, which was why we felt nothing. We took him to her professor, who's well versed in this, and he did some tests. He has it in his bloodstream, someone drugged him, and that's what we told the police." She paused, taking a breath in. "On our way back from our lab, we stumbled on a fox drugged in the same way. The same fox I mentioned earlier. He seemed to be in more control but he ran off. We called the police. As you know, they're still looking for him to take his statement."

Louis looked on, silent. "Is the wolf Legoshi?"

Judy stepped back, blinking. "I cannot say who it was."

He nodded. "But I can infer," he remarked. "Interesting…" There was a long pause, his features hardening. "So, someone is going about trying to break down the peace between predator and prey." His head dipped down into his hooves, as he rubbed his face. He looked up, then at her. "Keep investigating," he ordered. "They need to be stopped, they need to be dealt with, an example needs to be made of them."

Judy nodded, before saying her goodbye and walking out. She never saw that, left alone, the deer began to tremble slightly before willing himself to stop.

She walked outside and sighed, rubbing her face with her paws. This had all been… a lot. She couldn't help but meander over to a viewing site near the edge of the campus, overlooking the cliff and a beach. Ahead of her, the waves glistened in the moonlight, the curve of the city pulling up in front again. Zootopia looked grand and incredible, but in contrast Cherrington was filled with its own charm.

Charm that hid a dark underbelly. Louis felt that the veneer had to be kept intact, else the dark would flood out. She felt that the dark had to be attacked, to make the veneer more than that. With a huff, she sat down.

Life was messy.

She turned, wandering about and walking around. It was getting late, and with the (misplaced) fear in the air, many mammals were inside. It was quiet…

Quiet enough for her ears to hear something in the distance. She turned, beginning to follow it, then tracking closer and harder. She turned a corner and her eyes widened. There was Nick, digging some food out of a trashcan, his head darting around before he dashed off.

She followed him, all the way down a path until she came onto a fenced off piece of industrial land. Slipping through the hole in the fence that he used, she looked up to see a bunch of old warehouses up ahead; this was near the old port. Nick walked towards them before slipping down, underneath a small stone arch bridge that crossed a gully. Typing a quick text to Haru and Legoshi and putting any previous misgivings aside, she walked forwards, keeping in mind how he'd likely been hurt before. She just hoped that he'd be more willing to accept her sympathies than Louis had.


	8. Wilde Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: When writing, you have some chapters that just flow onto the page, which are a joy to write, which make you love this hobby.
> 
> This chapter was not one of them. This was the opposite, a chapter involved lots of moments important for moving the plot along, almost at a loss to its own identity, making it a bit of a slog to write. Moreover, the big ticket item involved character actions I wasn't totally sure on... Up until I showed it to the great guys at the ZAA forum who gave it a stellar thumbs up. Thanks guys, and as for you lot; enjoy.

.

.

"Nick."

Judy winced as her call roared out, piercing the silence. She could almost swear that she heard it echoing off of the surrounding buildings.

After a second or two, she realised that something else was uncanny. The utter silence from the fox down below.

She wandered across to the other side of the bridge and made her way down the bank, ears scanning around as she tried to locate the missing vulpine. "I'm not mad or anything, nobody is mad. Listen, we know what happened to you and you're not the first one."

Silence, again. Worse still, on reaching the bottom of the bridge she realised that the fox was missing. Scanning around, she darted on all fours to the other side, standing up and scanning around once more. Her ears rotated, listening in, yet found nothing. Had he run then she'd have heard it. Frowning, her nose twitching with worry, she walked back under the bridge, pausing as she heard something.

A heartbeat. Fast, like a bunny's, which for a fox meant that it was racing. "I know you don't like me," she said, "maybe if I was in your position too, I wouldn't like me myself. I don't know. All I know is that you're scared, maybe you had a bad run in with the police in the past, maybe they muzzled you…"

Honing in, Judy blinked as she found herself looking at an upturned cardboard box. "I know you talked to Legoshi," she said, "you were scared by what he said and then you tried to give him your advice. You thought that anyone who met him would only see him as a scary wolf, so he might as well live it up. After Haru said that he was the one who attacked her, I thought that too. But you know what? After working out what caused it in him, after finding out that someone drugged him, I'm not scared of him. He's shy, gentle and a massive bug geek. Nick, whatever went between us before doesn't matter now. We need you to talk to the police, just like Legoshi talked to them, and then we can go back to hating each other. And I promise you, no-one will harm you."

.

.

…

The bunny groaned. "Right then," she muttered, leaning forward and grabbing the box to lift off, pausing as it was held down. "Seriously, Nick!?"

"Yes," he quipped.

"What exactly do you have to fear?"

"Quite a lot actually, Carrots."

"Didn't you just hear what I said?"

"Yes, all of it."

"So why are you acting like this?"

"Simple," he spoke. "I don't trust you."

Judy groaned in despair, tossing the box away (it staying in place thanks to its foxy anchor) before marching back to the other wall, leaning back into it. The box with the fox beneath it just lay there, sitting in place.

"You're scared of me," she observed. She closed her eyes, looking down, thinking. How?… How to make him trust her. How much of what she'd already said did he believe, did he not believe. Was it all of it? "After first thinking it was about howling and then a joke, you advised that Legoshi should go and seek major psychological treatment."

"He actually told you that…?"

"Yes," she said. "After seeing you suffering from the same thing that he did. We needed to keep you safe."

"You talked with that wolf? The crazy wolf?"

She nodded. "Just like I'm talking to the crazy fox right now."

"Yeeeaaaahhhhh…. Okay, fair point."

She nodded. "Don't you remember us trying to help you last night?"

"Yes," he spoke, and there was a shift as the box began to move. Judy watched as he slowly emerged, like a snail from its shell, keeping a vigilant look on her at all times. He briefly paused mid-way through, blinking a few times before rolling his eyes and standing right up, letting the box drop away and leaning with his back against the wall. "But I thought… I wanted to think it was a nightmare. All of it."

She nodded. "A bit like Legoshi."

"Okay, just a rain-check here. How did you end up meeting him, and more importantly, where did this whole thing about it being a drug thing come in? As I'm still seeing a few big plot holes in this mess."

"He bumped into Haru and she sent me a message," Judy explained. "I ambushed him and knocked him out…" Seeing him blink a few times, she shrugged. "Dropped a durian on his head." Nick nodded and brought out his phone, typing in as Judy continued. "Anyhow, when he came to, we'd tied him up, aiming to get a confession out before sending him to the cops. However, as he did so, Haru, the white bunny who he'd attacked, realised that a plant called nighthowlers was triggering him. We did a test and it proved it. We then gave that evidence to the cops, they let us all go, and we ran into you."

Nick nodded along, typing in a search before wincing at the result. Rubbing his head, he sidestepped to the edge of the tunnel, breaking his gaze with Judy to give a wary glance up. Pulling himself back in, his eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "If you were aiming to swap distrusting you to being scared of you, you're on the right track, Fluff."

Judy couldn't help but laugh a little. "Sorry about that. Tell you what, how about we take you to Professor Otterton and rerun the test we did on Legoshi?"

"Can you even get him right now?"

Her ears drooped. "Maybe not… But how about you talk to Legoshi." She opened her phone and put forward a muzzletime call, crossing her fingers. With a click, it went through, Legoshi's face peering back. Handing it over, Nick looked on.

"Hey Legs."

"Hi, Nick… Listen, I know what you've been through. I was scared, confused, not knowing if something was wrong with me…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Nick interrupted. "Listen, did they trust you?"

"Eventually, yes. Completely after they realised what had caused it."

"And the police, they talked to you and didn't do anything to you?"

"No."

Nick exhaled. "Okay then." He turned off the phone and handed it back to Judy. "Right," he said, "lead on."

Judy nodded and took him out, Judy giving a call to Bogo as the pair walked back to the campus in silence. As she did so, she closed her eyes and thought back. Everything she knew about him, everything he might have been through, every way that mammals who'd been hurt in the past had processed it. Come on, detective brain. Come on! The tiger who resolved to break through so he could be himself, the deer who held on and put all faith in the ideology that he thought kept the world safe, the wolf who tried to make himself invisible so he reduced the risk of it happening again.

The fox who lived the stereotype and put up walls, trusting no one, so he wouldn't be hurt again when…

"I'm sorry," she said, holding a paw out.

"For what exactly…?"

"That you trusted someone before and they didn't trust you back. That they hurt you." She paused, taking a breath in. "That they muzzled you."

He winced slightly, taking his paw away from her and scratching the back of his head. "Thanks," he muttered.

"You don't have to tell if you don't want to."

He looked away and mumbled. "Juniorrangerscouts…"

"Huh?"

"Junior Ranger Scouts," he said. "Old childhood dream, mother saving up for a uniform and me going off, thinking I'd fit in and do so proud. It was my 'initiation', read 'hazing'. I must have muttered something about muzzling last night, as that's what they did to me. Wouldn't trust a fox without one. After that, I learned two things. One, I would never let them see that they got to me."

"And two?" she asked.

"If all anyone would ever see a fox as was shifty and untrustworthy, then that was all I should ever be."

"Nick," she said. "You are more than that." She reached out to touch him, only for him to shy off, keeping an eye on her all the time. There was a pause, before he glanced away.

"I'm sorry," he said. "But I still don't entirely trust you, or others. I know you mean well, and might expect others to put all your faith in you and the dream team, but I happen to like to maintain a healthy cynicism."

They paused as they heard a noise up ahead, looking up to see Haru and Legoshi waiting. Nick gave a wary glance down at Judy as she looked up. "We'll be patient, but trust us. The change is worth it."

"Hey, Nick," Legoshi said, walking up. "Let me give you some advice this time. It is."

.

.

* * *

.

.

It didn't take long for Bogo to arrive with a few other officers, Nick wary and breathing in as he went up to them. Judy couldn't help but feel that he was still scared that they wouldn't believe him, whip out a muzzle and take him in.

It must have been a real phobia. She didn't really know how to handle that.

Regardless, she and her friends waited until he was done before taking him off for some food. He looked vastly better, more relaxed now that it seemed that their word had been kept, and they settled down together to have a snack.

"-Scrambled egg sandwiches?"

"Yes," Legoshi said. "The supplier is really good."

"It's just that I'm more a fried egg sandwich fan," Nick said. "Crispier."

"But the yoke isn't well distributed. With fried egg, you have all the yoke in one place and all the rest of it is white."

"Yeah, but you just dilute the yoke," Nick countered. "And you get none of the runniness."

"Fried is less portable too. Don't have to worry about breaking the yoke with scrambled egg."

"That's just you not being careful."

"You're still enjoying it," Legoshi pointed out. Nick, currently halfway through a bite, shrugged.

"Hey, never said it was bad. It's good. Just not great. Though… after a day of dumpster diving, it is very nice." He paused, glancing at a smiling Judy before rolling his eyes. "Ha, ha… Okay, you win, Carrots."

"Hey, good to see you safe."

"Yeah…" Nick said, the words quiet and unsure. "Thanks."

Judy smiled. "You're welcome," she said, pausing for a second or two. She looked at the sandwich. "Mind if I try a bit?"

The two predators looked at each other before Nick shrugged, tearing a bit off and handing it over. Judy ate it, contemplating the taste before swallowing. "Not bad."

Nick nodded, bringing up his sandwich again. "Well, we know the answer to the immortal question now. Eggs. You would eat them with a fox from a box."

Judy chuckled, before settling down. "Say, what did they ask?"

Nick swallowed a bite and shrugged. "Oh, mainly about why I didn't call it in sooner and if there was anyone who might have done me. They said that I didn't actually do anything illegal, so… not as bad as it could have been."

"Any leads?"

He sighed, going down and rubbing his temple. "No. I was busy using the computers in the library for some coursework, all alone in a corner. I had a coffee for my all nighter, went out to the toilet, then came back. Someone must have popped the thing in when I did that. Could have been anyone, and there weren't many who might have seen it."

"There might have been some, though," Judy countered. "The police could request camera access, ask for people who might have witnessed it. You coming out helped."

"Yeah," Nick said with a shrug. "Also means I can finish that work for Friday, so double victory."

A smile flickered across Judy's face. "I thought you didn't care for your work."

"Ahem," he corrected, his eyes half lidding. "While this whole degree and the free room and board of my scholarship might just be a mega-hustle, I happen to always put care and attention into my hustles. Besides, if this super-hustle spits me out with a fancy bit of paper at the end, I might as well get the fanciest."

"Well, you want your family to be proud, don't you," Judy said.

Nick paused for a second, turning back to his sandwich and shrugging. "Guess so."

Judy looked on, curiously. "You know, I had a talk with Louis…"

"Oh yeah, how did his giant Nietzsche fanfiction go?"

"Stop being rude, Nick."

"Hey," he defended, "I actually heard the synopsis of that play of his from someone. Refusing to have your destiny laid out, breaking free and destroying the old gods, becoming something higher now you're liberated from destiny. I mean, he might as well just hang a sign on his antlers saying _Überhirsch…_ Or just done something like _Phantom of the Opera_ or _Evita_ instead. Just because I can see the obvious subtext doesn't make me rude, Fluff. "

"No, but that last bit does."

"Absolutely. One-hundred percent."

Haru frowned. "That isn't something to be proud about, you know?"

Nick shrugged it off as Judy cleared her throat. "Anyway, I told him about you and he said something interesting. He said he pitied the fact that you hold your 'foxiness' in such a negative light."

"Foxiness?" he asked, sounding half unconvinced and half annoyed.

"You know," she said, "the whole 'if everyone's going to see me as so and so', I might as well be 'so and so'. He said that he thought of foxes as clever, cunning, all things they could take pride in, but you see the dark side of them."

"Correction, other people do."

"Like Louis?" she asked, making Nick pause. "Heck, getting to talk to you, maybe I'm warming up to you too?"

He looked unconvinced. There was a pause, Haru then speaking. "You know, you shouldn't let others dictate who you are, you should own it. Maybe you have to live with the consequences, but in that case hold your head high and live with them, not blaming them on others. Anyway, if you don't want to be seen as sneaky and untrustworthy, maybe you shouldn't act like that. Be like Legoshi, act natural and as who you are and mammals will see you like that."

The wolf nodded. "I mean, it is nice, opening up about yourself a bit. I'm still getting used to it, but I'm trying it."

Judy nodded. "So, why don't you try, huh? Open up a bit, aim high, try. I mean, academically you might already be a pretty good student. Believe in it and yourself. What do you have to lose?"

Nick looked long and hard at her before sighing. "Okay," he said, a finger coming up. "Not like you'll take no for an answer. Tell you what, I'll try! What's the worst that could happen."

"That's the spirit."

"I'm feeling the infectious giddiness seeping in already."

Judy's eyes narrowed, the bunny giving him a light punch in the arm.

"Okay then," he said. "Starting low at a bunny assault."

"Nick…."

"What, don't want to break it," he shrugged, only to pause as he saw Judy's expression shift. "Judy?"

"You asked how Louis' performance went," she said, looking down. "It went amazingly, but it turned out he was doing it all on a broken leg."

"Ouch," he winced.

"He collapsed just after the curtain fell, and won't make the second performance. A tiger, Bill, is taking his role."

"And I'm taking Bill's role," Legoshi said.

Nick nodded. "Poor guy. I mean, I have my reservations about him, but I didn't want him to get hurt or anything." He looked down, breathing in and out. "Anything else that I missed?"

They shook their heads.

"Okay then," he said, sighing. "I… I'll be off, now."

"See you," Legoshi said.

"Yeah, see you Legs. You too Carrots. Same for…"

"-Haru!"

"Yeeesh. Okay, Haru it is then," he said nodding. There was a long pause, his ears going back, before he spoke. "Thanks. For everything. I mean it."

"It's okay if you're still feeling scared," Judy said.

"Fluff, I feel a whole lot of confusing things right now, so hopefully some sleep will help out. Fingers crossed."

"Fingers crossed," Judy agreed, as he walked away. He looked up to them, flashing a small smile, before leaving.

…

"Hopefully whoever they test it on next won't be that awkward," Haru harrumphed.

They were all tired, stressed and suffering from a heavy emotional toll, and could only hold it for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter.

.

.

* * *

.

.

" _Sugar and peas… Sugar and peas…_ " Haru sung to herself softly as she watered the plants in front of her. The early morning sun was lighting up the rooftop garden, and it felt good to bask in it as she cared for her little children.

"Some more trestles, coming through," Judy said, as she carried them over on her back. "Where do you want them?"

"Over there," she spoke, gesturing to a spare patch of roof, some empty planters laid out. "Thanks for all this, by the way."

"Oh, no problem," Judy said, placing them down. "Part of the gardening club now, after all."

"But it would take me three trips to move that stuff."

"Well, joining the ZPD, got to be strong. Wrap it up with my weight training."

"Want any help with the compost?"

"Well, I can use the wheelbarrow for that," she said, looking over everything. "I'll just stick some music on and do some weeding." She went over to grab some gloves, pausing as she passed the shed/ greenhouse before going in. There was a fridge in there, officially to help with seeds that needed cold weather to germinate, unofficially for food storage. With no seeds left to plant, two of the three shelves were now holding half a durian each, Judy reaching in to grab a lobe of the yellow flesh and munching on it and she went out. Leaning down, observing the planters for any weeds, her ears rose as she heard the door open up.

"Oh god it's true…"

She turned, spotting Nick standing there, holding his nose and looking like he was about to vomit. He spoke again, his voice heavily influenced by his nasal pinching. " _You do get horses to crap on your roses."_

"Seriously Nick? It doesn't smell anything like that," she said, holding up the remaining piece of fruit and taking a bite.

He looked at it, his eyes widening. " _I respectfully disagree_ ," she said, moving around until he was upwind of her. Fingers out of his nose, he sighed with relief. "Are you sure those things weren't designed by a six-year-old? ' _I'm making a giant fruit which looks like a mace, tastes like custard and smells like rotting flesh_!'"

Finishing it off, Judy wiped her paws. "Hey, try everything?"

"Was an overrated song."

"Right," she said, before she raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd help, with the case," he said, shrugging.

After a second of lag, Judy's face widened into a big grin. "Yeah, welcome to the team!"

"Thanks," he said. "Is Legs here?"

"Morning lecture," Haru said, walking up. "Do you want his number?"

"Would be useful," he said. "But I thought we would more be going for a team meeting kind of thing. I've got some things to say."

"Go on," Judy said.

He nodded, before glancing to the side. "I… -had some time to think, as I said I needed. A few things have become clear to me. One, what happened to me, what happened to Legs, was wrong and sick and I want to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else, ever again. Two… -A long time ago, I wanted to fit in and join a pack, and they rejected me. I thought the best thing to do was to never try and fit in again, to the point where my mind was telling me to turn myself from you, even as you treated me with trust and respect I don't think I deserved. And yeah, I've slept on it. Part of me is still saying that this is a dumb mistake, and it keeps on taunting me and making me feel rotten, while the other part of me is making me feel rotten for not trusting you completely… But I want to try and fit in to a pack. So… Do you mind being patient for a dumb fox?"

Haru looked on, blinking a few times and taking it in. It reminded her of something she'd been beginning to feel too, something that she felt was unfair on another mammal. At least Nick was being honest…

She didn't have much time to think on it though as Judy looked to her and gave her a knowing look, she returning it to Judy, before they both turned to face him, smiling. "Welcome to our pack!"

.

.

* * *

.

.

"So, you chose to come out of your shell," Legoshi observed, looking at his text. He smiled, only to frown a little. Being thrust into a new acting role on top of his lectures meant that he was getting busy. Last night, before being called in with Nick, he and Bill had practiced their scene together, before he'd instructed the new guy on the lighting systems. Sure, everything had gone well, maybe apart from Bill being quite over-eager, but the few lines he'd had he knew. As for the footwork, it was a fight scene, and with Bill going at it like he had Legoshi knew for himself that he could create a very convincing one on the fly.

Still, he wished he could get in more practice. Apart from his morning lecture, he had free hours all day, leading up to the performance itself. But that didn't matter when Bill was busy trying to fit in all the scenes he had with others, not helped with all their conflicting schedules. The assumption always was that everyone would have everything figured out by the time of the first performance, so they could then have a regular day before being ready for the second one.

A rapid replacement of the lead did not fit into that plan, and was being hastily worked around.

He closed his eyes. No, he knew what he was doing, he could do it just fine. The replacement lightsmam had little on today anyway and had taken that off, practicing the lights with everyone else all the time. That only left Bill… and Bill was Bill, he'd be fine.

"Be confident Legoshi, you can be that, can't you…?"

He was broken off by the sound of heckling from up ahead and he frowned, spotting two small predator mammals trying to yank someone towards them. Someone who was crying out in fear. "No! Please, stop!"

"Check it out," one of them called, holding up a phone so she could read it.

The other one bared his teeth. "Someone overheard the police saying that the first savage was a grey wolf! Just like you!"

"No!" she wailed, pulling back. All Legoshi could see behind the corner of the wall was an arm and one of her legs. "I'm nothing like that."

"That's what they all say at first!"

Legoshi backed off, his ears going back. It sounded like they were really going for it, and she, whoever she was, was in distress. He was conflicted. What was happening to her was wrong, it was bad, if his encounter with those bunnies and their ideas had taught him anything, it was that no-one should be ashamed for what they were. Let alone be attacked for them. Then again, he wanted to be something different to a savage or aggressive wolf, and maybe there was some genuine grievance behind this? But she was scared, when Judy had thought Haru was in trouble she'd leapt in, no questions asked to defend her. But she had been wrong. At the end of it though, she'd advised him to do it his own way. Thinking it through, he knew what to do.

"Hey, leave me alone!" she begged.

"If you're a grey wolf like them," one of them barbed, "then go on, show us your true nature!"

"And what true nature would that be?" Legoshi asked.

"Hu-What…?" the lead attacker, a feline, muttered, looking up.

Legoshi stood calm, briefly glancing down at the victim. She was a grey wolf, albeit with red tinted fur whose face tufts curled quite sweetly. "I mean, you were showing your true nature there quite well, I think I'm showing mine right here. What kind of true nature do you want from her?"

"Oh, you know," the other attacker spoke, crossing his arms. "All hell's going loose as some wolves like you are going nuts. So, we might as well bring the savage in to make it better on all us other preds."

"That's odd," he remarked. "I mean, wouldn't you rather go after the person responsible for these druggings? If you were interested in helping preds, that is?"

"Huh," the other began, before frowning. "What is it to you, anyway?"

"Just showing my true nature," he said, stepping between them. He didn't try to be intimidating as he didn't want to be, he just stood there, sizing them off. Maybe there was a deep irony in that statement, he didn't care though. The lead attacker tried to move past him to the side and he walked over to block them. Not violent, just getting in their way. They tried to go the other way, he blocked them, then walked forward, pushing them back. "I'm a patient mammal."

The one he was blocking tried shoving him but was held back, grunting before frowning with frustration. "Urghhh, let's go."

"Yeah," the other muttered, as they took off. Legoshi watched them go, before turning down.

"Hey, you okay?"

She looked up, nodding weakly. "Yes," she said, as her blue eyes met his, a smile growing on her muzzle. "You saved me. Thank you."

"No problem," he said, giving a quick glance to make sure they were gone. "Just some bullying jerks using some bad news as an excuse. You'll get used to it."

He was broken off by a sniff, then another, looking down to see her crying. "I… I have to get used to it?" She asked, her voice breaking. "I thought it was over at the end of school but here, where we're adults, I…" She sniffed once more, her teeth baring. "I don't want to have to get used to this awful treatment. I hate it!"

"Neither do I," he spoke, remembering all the suspicious looks he'd got in the past and how he'd just put up with them. "I think it's good that it makes you angry. You shouldn't feel ashamed for what you are. It takes strength to fight for that."

She nodded and stood up, next to him. "Thanks," she said, smiling.

"Anyway, I need to get going," he said, remembering his text. "Bye…"

"-Wait! You're Legoshi, right?"

"Huh…" he turned around to see her, looking at him, paws on her heart. "Second year in the drama society, in the backstage areas."

"H-how…"

"I'm Juno, I'm new in the acting department."

"Oh, I didn't know," he began, suddenly confused. She must really be new if he didn't know her.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea…"

"No worries," she began, getting excited. "You wouldn't know… When I joined, one of the actors told me about you. A big, strong and gentle grey wolf who worked on the lights. It made me really happy to hear that."

"I…" he began, before smiling. "I think I am big, strong and gentle…"

"Yes! And we're both members of the same species too. We can talk about all the struggles we have together, and know we have each other's backs. We won't be alone, too! Please, can we be on friendly terms with each other?"

"Sure, sure," he panted out, surprised by how fast she'd come on, and how overly formal. "Just… I have a place I need to be right now. I have to go."

"Oh, sure… See you soon, Legoshi!"

"See you soon, Juno," he said, walking off. Turning a corner, he glanced around, noticing that she still had her eyes on him.

.

.

* * *

.

.

"Took your time, Legs."

"Oh, hi Nick," he said, "guess you chose to come."

"Yeah," he said. "Nice to join the 'part of a horrible conspiracy' pack, am I right?" Legoshi's eyes narrowed slightly, as Nick's ears lowered, the fox looking away. "Okay, right, I'll tone that down."

"Thanks. Sorry I'm late, ran into an incident."

"What kind of incident?" Haru asked.

"Some jerks bullying a wolf girl, thinking that she was me… It seems someone overheard the police mentioning my…" he trailed off. "I confronted them and moved them along, before making sure she was fine."

"That's great," Judy cheered, walking over.

"I don't think I'd have been able to do it without your confidence boost. So, thank you too."

The grey bunny doe just beamed back. "Just making the world a better place."

Legoshi nodded, before looking up, pausing as he noticed Haru standing back a bit. Their eyes briefly met, before hers flicked away. He didn't have any time to follow it though.

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "Speaking of which, our drugger. I was thinking, we could try and work out who they were. First off, who might have a motive?"

There were a bunch of shrugs. "I mean, that ewe, Bellwether," Judy guessed.

"Yeah, makes sense if she's going for a power play, make preds scary to promote her views" Nick agreed, Haru and Legoshi nodding. "But if those things came from here, we'd need someone who knows about them…"

"-She came to my club at the beginning of the year," Haru said, "lots of mammals did before quitting as things got tough. But she would know where they were and could easily get up here and take them."

"Yeah," Nick said, "but she'd need some chemical experience to manufacture them. Or even know what they did in the first place."

Legoshi nodded. "I mean I've heard of this ram, Doug Ramses, who was doing the same biochemistry degree as Bill. The tiger was moaning about how he'd be passive aggressive to preds, or take up space to do his research on plant extracts. That there might be the mammal behind it"

"Is Doug Ramses a big ram with two friends called Walt and Jesse…" All eyes turned to Haru. "I met Walt and Jesse a few times," she said, leaving it unsaid how. "Kept on talking about how Doug and Bellwether were close, him getting both of them to help on their 'political schemes.'"

…

All eyes looked at each other before Nick spoke. "Well, guess that Dawn Bellwether is our prime suspect for drugging predators with nighthowler. Who'd-a-thunk-it, right?"


	9. Ewe Called

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to the guys at the ZAA discord for helping me proof this.

**.**

.

“Could you please move away.”

“Oh, sorry, am I bothering you?”

There was a dark silence as the three mammals stared each other down in the corridor. On one side was Dawn Bellwether, dwarf sheep, accompanied by her companion Doug Ramses. On the other was a blonde canine, technically a wolf but on a very drastic end of the species. When asked where he came from, he’d tended to say that he had a lot of family from Labrador and leave it at that. His name? Jack. Legoshi’s roommate.

“Yeah,” Doug muttered, crossing his arms. “You’re intimidating us prey types.”

“Oh, uhhh… Sorry. I don’t mean to do that,” he said, still trying to remain chipper.

“Well,” Dawn began to explain, “what you mean to do and what you actually do are two separate things…”

On she carried, none of the three noticing four figures peeking out from behind the corner of a corridor. First a white bunny doe emerged, then a grey one stuck her head between her ears, then a red fox poked his muzzle through hers, then a grey wolf pushed his between the fox’s ones.

“What’s she doing to Jack,” the wolf muttered, looking down. Nick gave him a ‘don’t look at me’ look before gesturing down with his eyes.

“Some long talk about ‘privilege’ or something,” Haru relayed.

Judy scolded. “Seriously? From her?”

Haru’s eyes squinted. “I have no idea what it is.”

“Jeez,” Nick commented. “Even I’ve heard of the idea. Where have you been all this time?”

Haru looked up at him. “Gardening.”

Nick then looked back up at Legoshi. “Okay, I think I’ve found the most sensible mammal here.”

“You do know that that’s my childhood friend being grilled over there?” the wolf asked.

“Oh, right,” Judy said. “What are they going on about…” Her ears focussed in, harder, as she picked up the ongoing conversation.

“-and the thing is predators are always bigger, stronger, more aggressive, and prey always have to live in fear and in the shadows,” Dawn carried on explaining. “You as a predator don’t have to experience that, you never will, but you should accept that that helps you every day of your life.”

“Does it?” he asked, looking up confused.

“Yes,” Doug muttered, taking a sip of his foamed latte. “It does, and if you want to be a good person you need to accept that and act accordingly.”

“But I don’t think I do anything wrong,” he said with a shrug. “I just try and be friendly all the time, be nice, and make friends. I thought that was a good way to do things.”

“No, as it’s doing nothing to counteract your natural advantages,” Dawn continued. “Advantages that keep others down, systematically, and need to be removed and countered to make society fair.”

Doug nodded, adding an addendum. “Saying you don’t see species is just saying that you ignore the real differences that hurt mammals, so it’s not good enough.”

“I mean, I like going around and helping others…”

“You should also accept that you need to make space for others,” she said. “Others who predators tend to crowd out a lot. I mean, the drama club which touts status quo propaganda is half pred, half prey, but preds are only ten-percent. Preds should limit themselves to ten percent of it.”

“Oh, I heard that it was because most prey tended to hang about in larger herds and like doing things together in them, which works well for activity clubs and things like the choirs, but not so much for the acting club.”

“Just victim blaming propaganda,” Dawn scoffed. “The drama club could easily change itself to accommodate that if it wanted to.”

“You know, my wolf friend Legoshi is in there,” Jack said, smiling. His tail wagged a bit. “When Louis was injured and a tiger was put into his spot, he filled in for Bill’s old role.”

“So, they’re getting rid of their token and apologist prey star and using their size and intimidation to increase their already oversized representation,” the ewe eagerly explained. “What should have happened is for the society to be aware of this, and focus on casting a prey mammal to increase their numbers.”

“I _guess_ that sounds fair,” Jack mumbled, looking up and tapping his foot. “But the way I heard it, nobody really wanted to do it until Legoshi volunteered.”

“Well that’s not good enough.”

“I guess it is, but still, better than nothing.”

“No,” Doug spoke. “They should have taken a stand and if they couldn’t find a prey, cut the role.”

“But that sounds worse!”

“It stops the proportions getting worse,” Dawn explained.

“It still sounds silly.”

“It’s about the principle, about taking a stand, about doing what’s right.”

Jack looked on confused. “It doesn’t sound right to me.”

“Well that’s because you’re not aware of your privilege. Maybe your friend Legoshi should have stepped back, encouraged others to move up in his place.”

“But that was a big thing for him, and if his parents were anything like mine, they taught him to always try his best at everything.”

“But when he’s starting ahead, that’s just keeping those behind him back behind him, all his life” she countered. “It keeps up the unfairness and something has to be done. Mammals need to be aware of their privilege.”

“Well, okay then,” he began, pausing to think. “Well, I guess mammals find me friendly, so I have an easier time making friends. I have a good sense of smell, which helps if I wanted to get jobs that need sniffer certification. I know hoofed mammals are less dexterous, which helps me. I’m bigger than a lot of mammals, which helps, but smaller than ones like elephants and such… Okay then… Interesting, I’ll keep that in mind. Your turn now.”

Dawn blinked. “Oh, I don’t have a turn.”

“But I had my turn thinking them up,” he said.

Doug cut in front of him. “We’re disadvantaged species, we’re not privileged. You claiming that we are is a common tool used to keep the disadvantaged down and to fight against equity.”

“I mean, you two are herbivores, so your food expenses are much lower…”

“That’s not a privilege.”

“But I thought it was…” he defended. “I mean, you can also grow thick wool and survive in colder climates with less heating.”

“-Typical privileged mammal,” Doug muttered.

“-And if this gets into a fight, others are much more likely to come to your side…”

“Oh, saying we’ll use the sheep card…”

“And I also thought I heard that sheep do quite well economically…”

“Using distraction techniques…”

“I’m just saying!” Jack tried to defend. “I mean, yes mammals might find us intimidating, but my friend Legoshi has a real hard time because of it, and you never have to deal with that, do you? I was just thinking that that was how it worked, all of us being aware of each other’s disadvantages and privilege. That sounds sensible…”

The expressions on the two sheep didn’t agree. “You’re just saying things to accuse us, the less privileged, of being privileged too,” Dawn muttered, before glancing at Doug. “You see this kind of mammal is the type that’s the problem, refusing to let go or admit to what they have, carrying on the injustices in the world as it helps him…”

Jack whimpered. “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to be a good boy. I’ll go now…” He turned and left, tail between his legs, in the opposite direction to the four eavesdropping mammals.

Legoshi frowned on hearing how it had all gone down. “Okay, I’m annoyed now.”

Nick nodded. “I can hear the righteous fury in your voice.” He then looked forward, frowning. “Still, a bit more pep and he could have won that. I’d enjoy seeing Louis smack her down.”

“Oh,” Judy smirked. “Warming up to him?”

“Fluff, I tend to take everything with a healthy and equal dose of cynicism, or borderline overdosing when it comes to politics. But while enough drink can make both supermarket own-brand kibble and a Bug-Burga one-dollar meal deal edible, one is still more edible than the other.”

“Listen, you guys, are we going to do the plan or not?” Haru scolded.

The three above her paused, variously glancing at each other before nodding, withdrawing their heads. Haru stood up, walking forward.

Dawn was grumbling, talking to herself. “Excuses, excuses, all to keep their heads in the sand.”

“-I know,” came a voice, the pair looking over as Haru strolled up. She paused, glancing back, suddenly feeling nervous about what she was about to say. “It’s not my fault I can find them scary, or intimidating.”

“It’s none of our fault,” Dawn agreed. “But if only they’d accept that, and actually start trying to fix the injustices.”

Haru closed her eyes and nodded. “You know, I wish I wouldn’t be afraid, I wish I wouldn’t be when a big predator walks by…” She shivered, rubbing her bandaged arm, Dawn turning to look at it.

“What happened there?”

She looked around fretfully, before looking down. “I don’t like saying this, given all the blowback I might get, but I was attacked by one of the savage preds.”

The two sheep looked at each other, gasping, before Dawn hurried forward and hugged her. “I’m so sorry. But you were brave there. I know there’s so many mammals willing to hide and bury the truth, all to push forward with their ‘unity’ ideology. It’s disgusting, especially when mammals like you get hurt by it. But, if you work with me, I promise. We’ll get you justice. We’ll protect you from the victim blaming and slurs. It’ll be worth it, for the little guys.”

Haru sniffed and nodded. “For the little guys. I mean, I don’t want anyone to be like I was, pinned in position by a big cat, thinking I was about to die.”

“So, a big cat, was it?” Doug asked. Around the corner, Judy gave her two canid friends a signal and off they went, walking over and talking about egg sandwiches (again).

Haru nodded to Doug, pausing as the two canids walked past her, their conversation morphing into Nick asking why the drama club was so insistent on doing its own things. “I mean, no-one would complain if they did, say, _Miss Tigon_.” Haru shied into the arms of a glowering Dawn, who held her as the pair vanished down the corridor, Nick now singing. “ _The heat is on in Cherrington… The buns are hotter than hell…_ ”

“You know Nick,” Legoshi said as they turned the corner, “you would make a great member of the drama club.”

Nick feigned a scoff. “How dare you.”

Haru relaxed, sighing with relief. “Sorry,” she said. “Just something about those two scared me, It… rang a bell, almost…”

“Might they have been involved too?” Dawn asked.

Haru shrugged. “I don’t really know. I blocked so much of it out. I’m not even sure if they’re ringing a bell anymore, or if any pred does, but I definitely think it was a big cat… Oh peas and sugarsnaps, I’m not so sure now.”

There was a long pause, before Doug spoke. “You know who I think it was?”

“Who?” Dawn asked.

“Bill. This tiger I share a lot of lab time with. He keeps going around, acting like he owns the place, saying that he’s a tiger and he can take pride in it. He revels in his privilege, and I bet if you try and talk to him, he’ll boast about how it’s his right to. Pah… Takes pride in being descended from a line of murderers and cannibals, shows it off, enjoys scaring small prey. I’ll bet you everything it was him.”

Dawn nodded. “If you say so.” She then turned down to Haru. “Come with us, let’s talk about it, see if we can confirm it.”

Haru, not sure how to act, decided to roll with it. The three walked off, briefly glancing at Legoshi and Jack talking to each other, off in a corridor. Meanwhile, far behind, Judy thought everything through.

If their plan was to drive a wedge between pred and prey, what better thing to do than to actively call out one of the ex-savage preds? They’d likely know at least who one of them was, given that it was poisoned drinks that they were using. And then she’d given them the perfect chance, the two walking past them with Haru getting it wrong, before almost leaning to the right suspects. If they were guilty, they’d have encouraged her, heavily, to pursue Nick and Legoshi, right?

Instead Doug had turned against Bill, the kind of predator that signified everything he hated about predators. The kind of predator he imagined would take part in that kind of violence.

All in all, either their motives were wildly different, they’d clued on or, in the most likely situation, they weren’t involved. But if it wasn’t them, then who? Judy knew that she shouldn’t get fixated on those two sheep, it was a common pitfall for investigators to get focussed on a set of suspects above other options. Heck, Doug had done just that. But if it wasn’t those two, then who else…?

Who else?

“Oh, hi Judy!”

The grey doe jumped up at the sound of an oddly familiar voice, turning around to see another bunny doe looking at her. One with one half of her body white, one half black, and with a predatory grin on her muzzle. One shared by her small entourage. Judy remained defiant, crossing her arms. “Hello again.”

“That’s hello, Mizuchi,” she scolded.

Judy blinked. “Did you give me your name last time?”

“I don’t care, but you will know it now,” she said, smiling. “After I pay you back by destroying your reputation.”

Judy rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, you’re going to get your gossip gang to spread stupid rumours about me.”

“Oh, yes,” she said, smiling. “Rumours that will lead to your parents disowning you, and you being more hated than Haru on campus!”

Judy stonewalled her, but was unable to stop a slight flare of nerves coming up.

“After all,” she continued, “I have picture evidence about how much of a lesbian predophile slut you are.”

“What!?” Judy asked, half offended and half confused.

Smiling, Mizuchi brought out her phone and opened it, revealing a picture. It was her and Legoshi, she in the process of holding him, ready to kiss. Of course, that wasn’t what it really was. It was in Otterton’s lab, she leaning forward to touch his injured head, their muzzles lining up from that angle to make it look like they were going to kiss, when in reality she’d then snapped away because…

Judy blinked with shock. “That sound was you! It was your camera flash!”

Mizuchi shrugged, a smug grin plastered on her muzzle. “Oh, rookie mistake, but one I didn’t make again.” She scrolled forward, revealing a picture from behind of her holding Haru’s paw, taken at night shortly after.

Judy had heard her too then, there had been a second mammal behind her after all, only it hadn’t been a savage pred, it was a nosy bunny. The picture flipped on again, showing she and Haru embracing hard underneath the orange glow of a streetlight, just seconds before Nick had stumbled out. The canids were cut from it, and it was impossible to tell that it was from fear, not love.

A flip forward, Judy’s eyes widening. She was up on Louis’ bed, her head facing down between his legs while his mouth was pointed up, open and gasping while his eyes were closed. It was taken from outside and above, from behind Louis, from inside the bushes where that snap she’d heard had come from. It was the bunny again, taking what appeared to be a highly compromising picture of her and the deer, together.

Judy began to shiver, both with fear and fury. These were lies, this was slander, this bunny had been spending all this time getting together a cache of files to blackmail her with. For what? For stopping her bullying someone else.

“Oh, last but not least,” she said, smiling. She scrolled through a set of pictures showing her with Nick, coming back from the bridge. Holding paws, looking at each other. Even though she knew the true context, Judy couldn’t help but imagine what might be going on. Then a picture of the pair enjoying food, she having a taste of his sandwich. Finally, there was a picture of her in the cafeteria, playfully punching Nick and him looking back with a sly smile. That kind of physical contact was a common sign of affection with bunnies, and on top of everything else it seemed like she was with a fox too. After every other picture, who would believe otherwise if the publisher said so?

Judy narrowed her eyes. “You do know the context of these pictures?”

“No, but I know that they’re not really romantic,” she said, shrugging. “Not that I care.”

Judy breathed in and out. “You know what, I don’t care either.”

“Oh, but others will,” she said. “There’s plenty of homophobes hidden away on the campus, a good few who can’t stand the idea of interspecies relationships, yet alone pred and prey ones. Oh, and tell me, miss dumb hick farm bun? What might your giant burrow-trash family out in the sticks think?”

Judy froze, a bunny stuck in the headlights, all tharn’d up.

“I mean, with a deer or a doe, break it to them and they could probably be fine. With a bit more work, a wolf and a fox too. There’s definitely some in there who need some work, especially those who wrote reviews for fox-away stuff. Tell me, do you know a Stu Hopps?”

Judy gulped. “Uncle, not a favourite one,” she lied.

“Or an Otto Hopps, an old fool who occasionally writes into the Bunnyburrow gazette, talking about how foxes are red as they’re made by the devil. Ha! Show’s how much of a backwater dump your home is, given that they actually make and sell that stuff and the newspapers don’t shred those letters. But, I give your family some credit, just one of those things and you could probably work it through. But finding their impressionable young daughter, already off on her flights of fancy with wanting to be a cop of all things and studying at one of those scary metropolitan liberal universities, doing all this? Slutting herself out to a doe, a wolf, giving a deer buck a B-J and settling down with a sly and shifty fox? All in the space of two or three days?” The grin became sickening. “That white slut breaking up an endangered species couple, basically genocide, is bad enough! But if you think she has it bad you won’t know what’s coming, and there’s going to be no escape!”

Judy shivered, knowing it was true. She… -Well surely after an explanation her family would understand? But trying to explain all that, working hard to make them believe… And what would they think if she told them about the savage predators, fighting a wolf, and all that… She began to cringe and panic. Her father said he’d take her back if things got too extreme… He wouldn’t, would he? Oh god, he might… Not now, please no! “Listen, please. There are bigger things at play here…”

“Yes there are!” she said triumphantly, holding her phone up. “Your family is probably going to force you to go back home, do what they need to do to ‘correct’ your ‘sinful’ ways and put you on the right path. And all you’ll be then is another dumb hick bunny pumping out litter after litter for the rest of your life!”

“Please! Don’t do this,” Judy began to say, her voice cracking. She walked forward, only for Mizuchi’s two friends to block her way.

“Say bye-bye to your life in five, four, three…”

“Please!” Judy yelled, jumping forward to try and reach it, only to be pushed back. Staring on, ready to jump again, she paused as she saw that another mammal had entered the match.

“Two, Onewaaaahhhh!”

Mizuchi jolted as her phone was torn from her paws, turning to look up at the red fox who’d done it. “Give that back!”

Nick glanced at the now black screen and frowned, pausing for a second before slipping it into his pocket and shrugging. “Give what back?”

“My phone you thieving pelt!”

“Oh wow,” he said casually. “The P-word.”

The bi-toned bunny scowled. “You think that stealing that phone is going to save your friend? Ha, I can just get a new sim card and re-download the images. If I don’t have you arrested for theft first.”

“Theft?” he asked, innocently. “Oh, hang on, is it your phone that I found on the floor?” He pulled it out, holding it up high and casually observing it.

“Hey, give that back!”

“I mean, it might be yours, might not be. Need something to check that out.”

“You give it back now!”

“Proof of ID, maybe date of birth…”

“I said give it back!”

He looked down. “If you confirm it’s yours by giving the date of birth, sure.”

“What?” she asked, sounding as confused as Judy was. “Oh okay, May the 3rd, two-thousand. Now give it back!”

Nick pressed the open button. “Right, zero-five-zero-three. No.”

“Wait! Stop!”

“Zero-five-zero-three-two-zero-zero-zero, no.”

“I said stop!”

“Zero-three-zero-five, Bingo!” He unlocked the phone, scrolling through and smiling as the bunny jumped up to try and grab it. “I admit, clever slamming the close button when I nabbed it, I had to think on my feet. But sadly, you then let yourself fall for a simple trap; thanks for confirming that you use your birthday as your passcode by the way.”

“Why you!!!!” she seethed.

Nick finished off, before finally handing it back. She paused, blinking at it. “Hey! You deleted my images!”

“What images?”

“The ones of her!” she shouted, pointing at Judy as the grey doe collapsed with relief.

“What ones of her?”

“Don’t, I’ll get you for this!” she seethed.

He blinked innocently. “For what, mayhaps?”

“Theft…”

“Of what?”

“My phone!”

“You mean the phone you have on you?”

“For deleting those pictures!”

“Oh, Judy?” Nick asked. “Is that a crime?”

“Unless they had any major monetary value that could be proved in a small claims court as part of a civil dispute, no,” she said, smiling.

“You…” she seethed, before turning to Judy. “You….!”

“It’s a shame,” Nick commented casually. “They were taken so well. You do have a talent for photography, shame you chose to use it for this.”

Mizuchi’s foot began beating on the floor. “ARGGHHHHH!!!!!!” She threw her arms down and marched off with her gang, Nick and Judy watching them go.

“Nick,” she said, “stand there.”

Nick did so, noticing that he’d stuck himself between the two bunnies just as Judy leapt up into his chest, glomping him before wrapping her paw around his waist. She sniffed, shaking, while Nick looked around nervously before looking down. His paw came up and he stroked her head. “There, there…”

Judy sniffed again. “Thank you,” she replied, shaking a bit. “How much did you hear…”

“Most of it. Is it true?”

“My family, I’d hope… They’re not bad! Just get, excessive, and with the news my father was saying he’d come and get me if it got any worse… It’s out of love, really… really…”

“There, there, cry into me,” he said, looking up to make sure no-one was looking, or taking pictures. Sucking it up, Judy looked at him and nodded. “Thanks. Again.”

“Well,” he began. “Know a thing or two about dreams being shattered by jerks.”

“So, you saved mine,” she said, flashing a little smile.

“About right.”

“Sorry I wasn’t there to save yours.”

“Well,” he said, shrugging. “Maybe you’re helping me find a new one.”

There was a long pause as they broke apart, Judy looking up to him. “Hey, that bit there was pretty clever. Maybe we could become cops together?”

“How dare you,” he snarked.

“I’m serious!” she giggled.

“Well,” he began. “I was more thinking of getting into serious business and stuff, though I feel that I’d be better on my own, legitimate this time rather than hustling… Start off with frozen treats, maybe work my way up to owning my own theme park. But… Doing it all legit? It’ll be a challenge, but thinking about it I’m kinda looking forward to it.”

“Yeah, if you want to,” Judy agreed. “Cop still open.”

Nick shrugged. “Hey, as long as we can be friends along the way, right?”

Judy looked up at him before nodding. “Yeah, right,” she agreed, genuinely feeling it right then. She didn’t know Nick that well, but she knew that she wanted to. Looking at the bunny, Nick kind of felt the same way.


	10. Doki-Doki

.

.

Not long after, Haru was sitting on a window ledge, kicking her feet. She felt guilty, given what she’d been talking about with that sheep. Of course, there was the fact that she’d had to slip off with her and carry on talking, carry on discussing, trying to find ways to extricate herself from the situation.

Eventually though, she did, finding herself here, mulling over her thoughts. Bringing out her phone, wondering what the others were doing, she was broken off by a familiar voice.

“Yeah, they’re off the list.”

Haru looked up to see Nick there. “Where’s Judy?”

“Ah, good to know how I’m regarded.”

She crossed her arms. “Yes, the fox I barely know versus my best friend.”

“Touché. And she had a lecture. We are students, you know?”

“Makes sense,” she mumbled.

…

“Do you know a black-and-white bunny that looks like she could be a piece of album art?”

“Huh…”

“Let me answer that. Yes. She’s endangered don’t you know?”

“Oh, her.”

“That’s the one,” Nick said. “Turned out she was stalking us to get blackmail material, which she was preparing to release. Sadly, she wanted to rub it in her intended victim’s face, and having not seen _Watchmammals,_ didn’t release it out pre-taunt. So, one phone swipe and a bit of hustling and no problem.”

“Hustling?”

Nick smiled. “It’s called a hustle, sweetheart.”

Haru grumbled. “She’s smarting up. Last time she just knocked me over and tried to throw a bucket of water over me.”

Nick looked on distastefully, only to pause. “Tried?”

“Judy grabbed it and threw it back at her. It’s how we met.”

Nick piqued his mouth, before smiling and nodding appreciatively. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Haru looked at him, thinking for a moment or two. “You’re very good at speaking your mind.”

“As are you,” he complimented.

There was a long pause. “Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“When you came in to our group, you kept on telling us about how you were still not trusting us, even though it wasn’t fair.”

“It was an awkward situation,” he replied, shrugging. “Made sense.”

“Yeah,” she said. “I tend to speak my mind, but with things like that…” She brought up her arm, Nick looking down at the bandages. “I know it wasn’t his fault, that he went through hell, that he’s a bug geek who wouldn’t harm a beetle. But sometimes, when I’m around him…”

“Yeah, still spooked a bit, aren’t you?”

Haru nodded. “That talk with Dawn, about how they spook us and it isn’t our fault, it made sense. I live it. But it’s wrong too, and it’s confusing. She says it’s unfair on us, but I think it’s unfair on Legoshi too.”

Nick thought for a second or two. “So, why not tell the truth?”

“Because he’s so self-conscious, I think he could take it badly.”

…

“You care for him, don’t you?”

“What!?”

“Yup, you totally do.”

“I… You’re a very precocious fox you know!?”

“It’s my third best character trait.”

Haru looked at him, nose a-twitching and her foot beating up and down in the air. She turned, then looked away. “Yes, I think I do.”

“Ah,” he sighed. “Relationship advice is not my forté.”

“Really?”

“Well, my experience is one short relationship with a vixen who can’t stand me, and arguably a small bromance with a fennec fox, though that’s on hold for a while.”

“On hold for a while?”

“Yeah, a year to two?”

“A year to two?”

He gave a knowing smile. “Depending on his good behaviour.”

Haru blinked a few times. “Okay…”

“Yeah,” Nick spoke, shrugging. “But I’ll say this. Keep things on the low, keep the barriers up, you stay safe. But you glide by, never get close to anyone, and if you can live with that, fine! I thought I could, but I’m starting to reconsider it now… But if you lower those barriers, you can start letting others in. And maybe that’s great? But the risks increase.” Nick shrugged. “I guess it depends how ready for that you are, and how close you want it to be.”

Haru nodded, looking away. “And how much is that?”

Nick smiled, paws up in the air, Haru grumbling at how appropriate the response was. “Yeah, that’s the tricky part.”

“I’ll think about it,” the white doe mumbled, slipping off her seat. “Catch you tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“Yeah, the performance Legoshi will be in. Or had you forgotten about that?”

“I had,” he shrugged. “But you know what, I might as well go. New me, embracing this kind of stuff, and showing support for a friend. _Mainly_ showing support for a friend.” He turned and smiled. “See you there.”

“See you there.”

.

* * *

.

“Jack, you really shouldn’t overthink this,” Legoshi said.

“I know, but it sounds really important,” the blonde canine spoke, pacing around the corridor. “I mean…”

“Just ignore the sheep, she’s a dumb one.”

“You know that’s odd coming from you, I mean what she was talking about sounds just like the stuff that weighs you down.”

“Yes,” he sighed. “And maybe I don’t want it weighing you down too.”

“Well why not?”

“Because it’s not very fun.”

Jack paused, thinking. “You know, that does sound like a very good reason.”

“Uh-huh,” Legoshi agreed, nodding. He suddenly paused, sniffing the air, turning down to see Haru walking up to him.

“Hi.”

“Oh, hi.”

“Legoshi, we need to talk.”

“That sounds like a break up,” Jack joked, only to freeze, suddenly staring between the rabbit and the wolf. A look of nervous horror began overtaking his face. “L-L-Legoshi?”

His eyes widening, the wolf charged into him, breaking him off. “No, it is not like that!” he spoke out loud. “It’s… -we’re on an important group project together, that’s all. Decorating the theatre scenery.”

“I…” he said, relaxing. “Oh thanks. I don’t know what I would have done if my childhood friend was into rabbits.”

Haru frowned. “What’s wrong with bunnies?”

“Nothing!” he exclaimed. “I mean, just a wolf sleeping with a rabbit, it’s sort of weird and icky…”

Folding her paws, the white doe glared up at him. “And interspecies stuff bothers you how?”

“I mean I’ve just got nothing against it,” he tried to backpedal. “Just, something doesn’t sit right, and…” He paused, turning up to Legoshi. “Hang on, maybe this is my problem! The one that I have to work through…”

Legoshi huffed, massaging his brow. “Okay, yes, it is. All sorted?”

Jack relaxed. “Yeah, okay, I know what I have to do. Try and understand how you two could be together and not find that freaky. So… -what, exactly, do you see in it?”

“We’re not together!” Haru barked, only to freeze as they heard a shout from behind.

“What are you doing with him?”

They all turned, spotting a female wolf bounding happily down the corridor. Legoshi blinked a few times as he recognised her. “Hey, Juno?”

She cut past him, slamming her palms against the wall and staring Haru down. “I don’t know what a little rabbit would want with him, especially as you’re ruining a perfect wolf couple!” She then turned, grabbing on to a shocked Legoshi and kissing him straight on the muzzle.

“Do you know her!?” Jack gasped.

Breaking off, Legoshi pushed her away. “I saved her from the bullies, but this seems extreme.”

“There’s nothing extreme about it,” she snarled, turning to Jack and growling hard. She did the same to Haru, then turned back to Legoshi. “We’re a perfect wolf couple, I know, and I’m going to claim that.”

Legoshi glared at her, beginning to growl. “What is wrong with…” he suddenly froze, breaking off in shock, before Juno growled back.

“You don’t get to refuse what is right! I’m going to win your heart!” she barked out.

Haru shied back with Jack, only for her ears to go up as Legoshi spoke out. “I smell howler on you.”

“Yes,” she smiled, “you, my howler!” She dove back in to kiss him, the male wolf glancing to a surprised Haru and nodding. The bunny walked forward and spoke out.

“Did anyone put anything in your drink?”

“What drink? You mean that one I had early at the drama club? No! What are you doing, trying to distract me?”

“Listen,” Legoshi said. “You feel different, more aggressive, yes?”

“I feel alive,” she spoke, smiling. “And I want _you_ , and I’ll get rid of anyone who gets in my way, even that tasty bunny.”

“Tasty?”

“Yeah, she kind of smells sweet in a way. Who knows? But there’s only going to be one mammal that I’m going to be eating tonight.”

Jack looked on, shocked. “What on earth’s going on here? What’s this about smelling howler? All I smell is that she’s in heat.”

“I figured that,” Legoshi complained, as she gripped him and snuggled up hard. Haru meanwhile was texting the others.

“Listen,” he spoke, “how about I slip into the bathroom, and, uh… -Get changed!”

“Right here?!” Jack gasped.

“Yes,” she said, as she let go of him. There was a small set of bathrooms nearby and he slipped into the one designed for disabled mammals and megafauna, slipping the lock closed.

“I’m walking away,” Jack spoke warily.

“Me too,” Haru agreed, as they retreated behind a corner and watched. Juno got impatient, then angry, then began beating on the door. Were it not for everyone being in lectures, she’d certainly be making a scene. Thankfully though the halls were empty, something helped as Jack, on Haru’s orders, went to block another corridor.

Nick then arrived. “She’s the one?”

“Yes,” Haru spoke. “Who else would it be?”

“I don’t know. Just, given that she’s lusted up instead of angry and all, it sounds a bit odd.”

“It does to me too, but we can discuss this later. Get into your position.”

“Right,” he said, doing just that.

Juno continued to pace, even scratching at the door and swearing, telling Legoshi to let him in so they could be together. Slowly though she seemed to calm down, before slipping off, marching past Jack and fuming as she went.

“Jack, was it?” Haru spoke. “Follow her, keep an eye on her.”

“Are you sure I should?”

“Yes!”

“Right,” he mumbled. “I’ll do it at a distance…” He then walked off after her, leaving just Nick and Haru. There was a knock at the door.

“Is it safe?”

“Yup, you’ve officially survived death by snu-snu.”

“Good,” he muttered. “It’s not long before I have to go off for my performance.” There was a pause, before he looked over to Haru. “I didn’t know that nighthowler could do that.”

“Neither did I,” she said. “But Jack said she smelt like she was in heat.”

“I smelt that too,” he said. “Just like I smelt nighthowlers in her.”

Nick nodded. “Ah, so maybe in us it piped up our aggressive instincts, but with her, as her mating instincts were already heightened, those got multiplied to dominance too.”

Haru nodded. “Well, it’s not like there’s any other explanation. Still, another mammal…”

Legoshi brought out his phone. “I’ll send Jack an explanation, tell him what to say when she comes back down.”

“Good thinking,” Nick complimented. “After all, don’t want to break your chances with a girl like that.”

“I…” Legoshi mumbled.

“I don’t think a girl like that really deserves chances,” Haru spoke out, hard.

“Huh?”

“All that talk about perfect wolf couples, it reminded me of a rather nasty bunny, talking about her own perfect couples…”

“I mean I did rescue her from a bunch of bullies,” Legoshi countered. “Maybe she’s just a bit lovestruck?”

“It’s just… I don’t want you to end up with that kind of mammal,” she muttered.

There was a pause, Nick looking on and slowly smiling. Finally, Legoshi spoke. “Why would you care?”

“Uh… Well, I care about you,” she dismissed, “You know, and…”

“You do?” he asked, before smiling. “That’s nice. Especially after everything.”

“Well, it wasn’t your fault,” Haru said. She paused, before sighing. “Even if you do… scare me, a little.”

“I…” Legoshi gasped, his ears folding back and tail drooping.

“-It’s not your fault!” she interjected. “Just, after everything, I…”

“I understand,” he said, glancing off in the direction that Juno had left. “It wasn’t her fault either and she’s probably sweet, but I think I’d be a bit intimidated by her again. Still, I hope she’s okay. I hope Jack can explain it all to her.”

Haru nodded, only to pause as Legoshi walked up. “I forgive you. After all, I think I care for you too…”

“You do…?”

He smiled. “Maybe we care for each other.”

There was a long pause as he stretched a paw forward, Haru taking it, the pair slowly looking into each other’s eyes…

“-Oh gosh, are you three okay?!”

They were broken off as Judy skidded in.

“Yup!” Nick agreed, the two suddenly being reminded that he was there. “I think we’re all pretty swell here.”

Haru gave him a stink eye, but apart from that they were good. They filled in Judy on all that had happened, letting it sink it.

…

“Who next?” Judy asked.

Legoshi shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“First a wolf, then a fox, then a she-wolf,” Haru mumbled.

“Don’t think they’ll try that one again,” Nick joked, only to pause, thinking.

“No,” Judy said, not noticing it. She sighed, head down into her paws. “But with Dawn our one lead is gone. We’ll report Juno to the police, though it seems she didn’t even realise something was wrong. But again, what happens next time, when they up the dose and we get another savage.”

There was a collection of nods, before Nick spoke. “Who says they’ll up it?”

All eyes turned to him. “What do you mean?” Judy said. “They underdid her, so they’ll try and up it again.”

“Or, they know what they’re doing,” Nick replied.

“What? Surely they’d be trying to ramp it up, rather than down. Unless you know different ways of scaring others.”

“Who says that’s their MO,” Nick countered, Judy freezing. “Counterpoint. Let’s say that they started with Tem’s murderer. Enough rage to make whoever it was snap and kill, even as he ran, even as he fought back, even as it carried on over however long it was. Then Legoshi. He almost succumbed, but had a short and intense battle with himself, finally being snapped out of it by a call from his friend. Then me. I was scared, angry, but lucid. I was able to hold things in. Then Juno. She was dosed up, and while her heat certainly changed the outcome, she was still able to function normalishly. She could talk, she could form sentences… Each time, the trend has been down. Making those affected less savage.”

“But why?” Judy asked.

Nick shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, best guess is that someone’s trying to refine or make their own new drug. It won’t be a controlled substance, and once they’ve got it figured out, who knows how much they could make from it before the government work out it’s there and ban it.”

There was a long pause, the group looking around at each other. Judy smiled. “Hey, you really would make a god cop.”

“How dare you. Again.”

“Seriously though, that’s… that makes sense,” Judy said. “I’ll update Bogo about it.”

“Yeah,” Legoshi said, before pausing, bringing out his phone. “And I need to run! I’ve got a performance to attend to!” He turned and ran. “See you there!”

“See you,” they all said, waving.

There was a long pause, the remaining group looking at each other. “But who would be trying to do that?” Haru asked.

Judy shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “But they’re out there, somewhere. Let’s hope that Juno is the last mammal to be drugged.”

“Pretty thin hope, that,” Nick sighed.

Judy nodded. “But we’ve got to hope it none the less.”

Meanwhile, Legoshi slid into the acting department, the assembled cast turning to look at him. “Heyhey!” Bill announced, smiling on sight. “Legoshi! Almost thought you were lost.”

“Yeah…” he huffed, catching his breath. “There was a… A she-wolf, interested in me…”

The tiger burst into laughter, clapping hard. “Oh excellent. Wasn’t too rough I hope?”

“No, but she was insistent. And persistent.”

“But still crazy for you?”

“Very,” he grumbled. “Someone might have tampered with her heat-away or something.”

Bill shrugged. “Well, maybe it’s for the best. You’ve started living out, now you might get a girl to live out with. Now come quickly, we’ve got to get into costume.”

The wolf nodded, the pair splitting off to get ready.

.

* * *

.

“It’s him!”

“Get better soon!”

Louis flashed them a smile as he strutted along, using a pair of crutches given his bad leg. He kept himself quiet though, only giving a dismissing ‘it’s nothing’ here and there as required. Thankfully the medication and treatment had been helping out. Only a greenstick fracture, the ends still met up and, as long as the splints and such kept them straight, he’d be fine.

It would be fine.

The performance would be fine.

Slipping into the hall of the acting block, he scooted down, giving a knowing nod to any of his fellow actors or other theatre mammals as they passed. Finally, he came to a room.

His room.

The star’s room.

Stepping in, closing the door behind him, he couldn’t help but notice how dark it was. There, in front of him, lit by the lights on the mirror was Bill, the tiger all dressed up in his flowing cloak and staring at his reflection morosely.

He walked up to him.

“-Are you here to cheer me up? Or to give me some advice…” he spoke, his tone sombre. A flash of worry hit the deer. Dammit, if he hadn’t learnt his lines! “Or, perhaps to screw me over at the last minute?”

Louis just stood there, staring at him with a serious expression on his muzzle.

The tiger looked down, his eyes closed, before he looked up, opening them with a smile on his face. “Got you!” It took the deer a few seconds to register it, his mouth piquing slightly. All while Bill stood up tall, proud and confident. “To be fair, I didn’t expect you to come and see me at all. Very funny.” Standing up, he shrugged, nice and friendly. “Please don’t worry, I won’t ruin your Adler. But I will leave my legacy to the audience! I will make them say, ‘striped Adler, he’s not bad at all.’”

Louis nodded slightly, before glancing at the far wall, at the poster. Bill did too. “The hall is full again,” he spoke. “His duty is to sway a great variety of students and thousands of souls at once.” He took a breath in and looked back at the jovial tiger, wondering whether he truly understood. “That’s the curse that Adler carries on his back, the albatross around his neck.” A hint of nerves flicked through the tiger, Louis nodding and turning, leading him out. “If your mind gets crushed by the curse,” he said, twitching his bad leg and feeling some aching feedback as he did so. “It’ll be worse than breaking a bone.”

It was tough, something not to be taken lightly, hopefully Bill understood now.

A heavy paw touched his shoulder and Louis froze, glancing to see the tiger catch up to him. He looked relaxed, confident. “Hey, let me get the door.” While he’d rather not have, Louis let him, the pair then walking down the corridor together.

Louis pondered about his replacement, slowly feeling more relieved. Yeah, he could trust Bill, and Bill could set an example to those who needed it. “You’re worldly and wise,” he mused. “It seems like you’ve already been making progress, but you should carry on sharing those qualities with that wolf.”

“Louis, are you interested in him?” Bill asked.

“He used to annoy me,” he huffed. “Keeping himself so weak, so small, mocking us by going down to what he thinks is ‘our’ level. As a deer, a proud prey, that makes me sick. You were his polar opposite, operative word: were. He seems to be fitting into his skin though, at long last. Very funny.”

“Yeah,” Bill shrugged. “I’m glad for him. I’d never be able to stand living my life like that, and it’s been great seeing him light up! All it needed was a bit of a confidence boost or something, a little touch of getting back into contact with who he was, feeling what it was like to be a wolf and knowing you can be proud of it. Glad of it. Just like I’m glad I was born a tiger. Gifted with the qualities of a great carnivore.”

Louis nodded to that, all while Bill put his paw on his back and led him along.

.

Meanwhile, Legoshi was having one last look over his lines. Recounting them in his head, he smiled, feeling confident.

The door slammed open behind him, someone walking in. One of the other members saw him and spoke. “Are you ready? Did you sleep well?”

“Well, yeah,” Bill replied casually.

Legoshi nodded along, only to freeze, something familiar catching his nose on an inhale. He stood up, alarmed, turning to Bill and sniffing harder and harder, walking up to the tiger. He blinked a few times. “Uh… What?” He shrugged. “Hey, Louis and me were just talking shit about you, nothing much.”

Legoshi didn’t care, sticking his muzzle right in and sniffing.

“You’re acting strange even by your standards!”

Legoshi glanced up at him, giving one last sniff, his brow knitting. Bill looked around, worried, before speaking out. “Oh, oh dear! I need to go to the bathroom!” He turned and walked away with a flourish, making his way there.

…

“Seriously!? You followed me into the bathroom. Huh, you must really be into me.”

Legoshi looked on, anger painted across his face. “Bill, what are you hiding under that costume?”

The tiger looked at him and chuckled. “Ah, I wasn’t able to fool the keen olfactory sense of a canine after all.” He stuck his paw down, fiddled, and pulled out a small bottle.

“That’s…” Legoshi began.

“Ah, just a herbal pick-me-up someone recommended,” he said, happily.

“Nighthowler. It’s called nighthowler!”


	11. Adler the Reaper

.

.

“Nighthowler?” Bill asked, smiling a bit before shrugging. “Cool name.”

Legoshi trembled, before shouting out. “Where did you get it from?!”

“Ah, I picked it up,” the tiger dissuaded. “Not from the students of course, an old punk down in the town recommended it. I’ve kept it, just in case. Well, today is ‘the case’ you know?” he said with a shrug. He tossed the little vial up, letting it spin around in the air before catching it. “So, I really had no choice this time.”

Legoshi blinked a few times. “Bill, stuff’s dangerous.”

“Oh, come off it…”

“BILL!” he shouted, charging forward. The tiger was taken aback, but managed to slam the vial into a pocket before thrusting out his free paw to catch Legoshi’s assaulting two. He staggered back, teeth gritting, before bringing both paws out and grabbing the wolf, pulling him around him and tossing him into the wall.

“Hey, listen to me now,” he hissed. “Maybe it should be easier to live in the shadow like you, if that’s really what you want. I was thinking you were making some progress all this time. But I want to live in the light!” He smiled, stepping back, paws out wide before patting the pocket containing the serum. “So, this is a reasonable doping.” His jovial move then morphed into an angry disappointment. “You always sucked up to prey…”

“Bill!” Legoshi barked. “That stuff makes you go wild.”

“You just keep dodging responsibilities.”

“That stuff may have led to Tem’s death! I understand about ‘discovering’ one’s self, but that stuff can turn you into a murderer!”

“Understand?” the tiger asked, frowning. “Huh. You would never understand me!”

Legoshi shook his head. “Give me that now. We have to give it to the police!” He marched forward, only for Bill to shove him back. He slammed against the back wall, Bill turning and marching out. “We have to find who…”

He was cut off by a slam of the door, the feline exiting the room. The wolf collapsed onto his knees and sighed. “Dammit, Bill,” he hissed. He didn’t know what he was messing with, did he? But what could he do? There he went, the confident tiger, the new alpha, and being ‘the boss’ who was going to boss him around?

Nobody, that was who. After all, what could he do? He couldn’t stand up for himself.

He closed his eyes, stewing in it all, when a voice spoke up from his memory.

_You’re a wolf, act like one…._

“Louis?”

_Give us a taste of the savage._

“Oh, I will,” he resolved, standing up. “I’m a wolf, I have my pack, don’t I? And we’ll chase you down on our hunt for the truth, Bill, believe me!”

.

.

Sitting near the front, two bunnies and a fox settled down. The latter of the bunch looked around before shrugging. “Okay, I’m a little excited.”

“Told you,” Judy said, pausing as she heard a slight rumbling. “Haru, didn’t you turn your phone off?”

The white doe looked back at her. “I turned it onto silent,” she said, pulling it out. She opened it up and looked through, before glancing back. “He says Bill has a vial of nighthowler!”

“What!?”

“Shhh…” she ordered. “Someone sold it to him and he thinks it’s a stimulant. We need to get to him right after this is over.”

“Has he taken it?” Nick asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

Judy looked between the pair, her foot beginning to beat. “If Nick’s right and it’s a drug they’ve been refining, he could take it and nobody would know. If our old idea is true and it’s a terror weapon…”

Nick looked around, gulping. “Slight consolation on that note. If the bad guys’ plan was to set it off on a pred Adler in here, then they’d have to have planned to break Louis’ leg… Or they’re right under our noses. Maybe it’s our deer himself?”

“It wouldn’t be,” Judy cut in, only to freeze, remembering. After all, that deer bore literal scars of the worst that predators could do. Sure, he seemed like he’d resolved entirely for unity, but… But what if it was all a long, long, long con, leading up to this point. A masterful plan that couldn’t be traced to him, that even now she had a hard time believing, but would strike a terrible wedge between predator and prey.

“Just throwing things against the wall,” Nick replied. “Seeing what sticks.”

“And this sticks more than you’d expect it to,” she replied, breathing in and out. “Haru, text him, tell him to be ready to leap out and catch Bill if he flips.”

“Will do,” she said. “I’ve already told him, and given my theory.”

“Your theory?” Judy asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “Maybe it’s still Dawn and Doug. They didn’t draw attention to Nick and Legoshi as that would incriminate them and they knew it. They were taking no risks before their endgame.”

“This…” Judy said, gritting her teeth. “That makes perfect sense too. Cheese and crackers, they’ve already tried to draw your attention over to Bill, didn’t they? He’s their target, has been since day one, though how did they get Louis’ leg too?”

“Maybe that wasn’t the plan,” Nick countered. “I know I said it was earlier, I was thinking about how good it would be for them to turn a predator Adler, the symbol of Louis’ ideals, into a savage, breaking them. But Bill still acted here before his promotion. Maybe their original plan was to let him loose regardless, hoping to kill Adler in the process?”

“That’s true too,” Haru said. “So many theories, all flying about…”

“Oh, what a circus,” Nick agreed, looking up before rolling his eyes. “Now I’m glad they’re not doing _Evita_.”

Judy looked between them, her eyes closing as she pinched the brow of her nose. “We have to get him after. Whoever sold him that will lead us to the truth.”

.

.

Lights darkened, the scenery panels shifted into place, and the actors held back in anticipation. One more than any other. Legoshi checked his texts and grimaced. Different potential plans and different outcomes, and all around a tiger who might go crazy and charge out, tearing at all those in front of him. He was dressed for his role, loose shirt and trousers like a sailor, a set of bandages across his head. A sword at his side, blunt as it was, he was prepared to race out and hold Bill down, calling on his pack as he did so. Pack… Did he really call them that? No time to think now. His heart beat hard and his body trembled, but there was an odd calmness of inevitability about it all.

Still, as far as he knew, Bill hadn’t drank it yet. He might have listened. This might all be okay.

.

.

Nick looked on as two figures leapt out of the darkness, Adler the reaper: water deer skull and a hat on his head, flowing crimson cloak behind him, revealed himself. In one paw he held his sword, in the other he led a frail looking zebra maiden. “Why is the fire spirit still chasing us?” she asked fearfully, as Bill the reaper landed into the middle of a stage. Two rings of dancers enveloped them, circling around, paws going up and down. Even though he was scared for what might happen, Nick couldn’t help but have a running commentary going on in his mind. _Okay, cold open I guess…_

“Because,” Bill began, a slight hitch in his voice, “you were supposed to die three days ago.” Beside him, Judy couldn’t help but notice that the words were less confident than Louis’ performance. His lines had been bold, rock hard and resolved, with the added undercurrent of the pain of his leg coming in, all folded together. Bill’s words though had a slight tremble in them, like on a foot you were lowering into a cold swimming pool. It was if he was trying to get used to the role he was playing. “Water, wind… -fire, messengers of the elements, want you dead.”

Definitely, Judy thought. They weren’t wrong, but they didn’t feel as inspired. The difference was measurable.

Nick meanwhile thought they were fine, all while his commentary rolled on. _Okay, you knew it was Nietzsche fanfiction coming in… But hey, you enjoy cheesy movies of all kinds too… Enjoy it for what it is, Slick!_

Bill pulled his sword out in a powerful, deft movement, his body building up where his voice had been flagging. His zebra charge looked around, pulling herself behind him. “So they are not the only ones chasing me?”

“Uh-yeah… That’s right!” he said, tripping up a bit but then powering on. “This is the result of living against your fate!”

Up there, the tiger himself was nervous. He was having to hold his tongue in, stopping himself from panting. Was it always this hot on the stage? He remembered back to Louis’ words: _your duty is to sway a great variety of students and thousands of souls at once. That’s the curse the role of Adler carries on his back_.

He breathed in. _No worries!_ He told himself with a flourish. _I can take care of it!_

He stood tall, his sword dancing in his paw before he swept it around, his gaze lingering on the surrounding dancers. “I will kill you. It is my duty!” he announced, turning and sweeping it around as they fell. “Do not forget! I am Adler the Reaper!” He’d found his voice, and he looked to the crowd, pausing to take it in.

There was nothing.

No cheers, no jeers, just coughing.

Back in the stands, Haru and Judy could hear what was going on, the discussions being had. “That Adler isn’t Louis. Is it?” “No, it’s not, he doesn’t have antlers.” “Isn’t that deceiving?” Judy couldn’t help but think it unfair. Nobody had wanted this, and Bill was working with what he’d got. He deserved to be judged on that, not for not being the mammal he’d had to replace.

Up there, on the stage, the tiger’s eyes hardened. “I won’t let anybody…” He barked out, before stopping. “Until then, I won’t let anybody touch you!” His announcement rang out to the whole crowd, echoing around in the silence. He led his charge off, not to jeers or cheers, but to whispers.

Back offstage, Legoshi looked on nervously, pausing as he saw the tiger lean into his pocket and bring out the vial. “Bill!” he hissed, but it was too late. The tiger took a small swig, not the majority of it, before putting it away and glaring at him.

“I know what I’m doing!” he spoke.

He then turned, racing out into the centre again. The lights rose, revealing the reaper by himself. “Ellen! With the rose thorn you wished to see, even I, a reaper, would be able to end his own life. It’ll be alright, nobody is chasing you anymore.”

Down in the crowd, Haru flinched as she received a warning text. “He’s had some!”

Nick glanced at her before looking back, thinking. _Okay, this isn’t a cold open. I don’t know what this is. Rose thorn what? Ellen, who? Halp plz!?_

Back up on the stage, Legoshi was getting ready to come on. His heart beat fast though, worried. Damn you Bill! If Nick’s idea about this being a drug test was wrong, he was setting himself up. After all, that ram hated him, hated him for being so pro-pred and proud. He remembered hearing him talking about it as they worked in the biochem lab and…

He froze, blinking, while the students by him talked. “I’m worried about him,” one said.

“He’s actually doing fairly well,” another countered, which was strictly true. Given the severe short notice he was doing very well given the circumstances.

Legoshi didn’t hear her. He was trembling, shaking, his fists clenching with rage and fury.

“It’s time for us to part, Ellen,” Bill announced to the world. “This is my decision. I will choose where to die myself.”

The students paused as they heard Legoshi hiss out. “You’ve already chosen it!” They flinched back at the sight of the furious wolf as he took off, racing out across the stage.

As planned, Bill turned to him, raising his sword. “So, you are the last evil?”

“Hey, Bill,” the wolf hissed, too low for the crowd to hear. “If you say the nighthowler you’ve drunk is reasonable doping, then show me what you’ve got!” He dropped his sword, leapt forward with a fury he’d never felt before, not tempering it for the first time in his life, and letting the savage out in a brutal punch, knocking the tiger halfway back across the stage.

The crowd gasped, not least of all three near the front.

“What?” Haru asked.

Nick and Judy gaped on, the fox realising that something about the tiger had lit up Legoshi with a blind fury. A second later, he worked it out, it filling him too. “He’s worked it out!” he growled.

“I have too,” Judy said, thinking back to their first meeting and all that had been said since. “It all makes sense now.”

“What does?” Haru asked.

The bunny put a paw on Nick’s shaking one before turning to her. “Bill didn’t get those howlers from the source. He is the source!”

Up on the stage, the tiger was stumbling back, hissing out. “Hey, are you nuts?” he spoke, again too quiet for the crowd to hear, yet laced with venom. Legoshi charged again, another knuckleduster out, throwing the tiger to the floor. The vial of nighthowler went rolling off to the side. The wolf raised his paw, wrapped into a fist. “I will not forgive you!”

Down it came, hard, as another pulled up. Off stage, the others were panicking. “We’ve got to do something,” one said, but they didn’t know what. Another punch landed down like a sledgehammer on a boulder, Adler’s mask went flying, baring the tiger’s face to the onslaught. Legoshi punched again, Bill shaken about. He managed to glance at the audience, shocked and enraptured. They still thought it was an act, and of course now they were drawn in! Dammit.

“You poisoned me,” Legoshi hissed. _Punch…_

“Almost made me a murderer…” _Punch…_

“Almost made me kill a friend!” _Punch…_

“Someone I love!” _Punch…_

“I thought I was a monster!” _Punch…_

“A criminal!” _Punch…_

“Then you did it to Nick!” _Punch…_

“Then Juno!” _Punch…_

“Who killed Tem!?” _Punch…_

“Who was your victim then!?” _Punch…_

“Or did you do it?” _Punch…_

“Maybe the first time you weren’t a coward!” _Punch…_

“Testing your drug on others!” _Punch…_

“All so you could feel like a pred!” _Punch…_

“I thought you were happy…” _Punch…_

“-Being born a tiger!” _Punch…_

“But that wasn’t enough, huh?” _Punch…_

“You wanted more!” _Punch…_

“More!” _Punch…_

“More!” _Punch… Punch… Punch…_

On he went, punching and punching, faster and faster, before finally relenting. Bill sat beneath his, his face bruised and swollen. Legoshi looked at him and sneered, raising his paw one last time and bringing it down brutally.

A massive orange paw leapt up and caught it, gripping it hard. Legoshi gulped as another came up, the tiger beneath him rising, shrugging off the injury and flipping the scales of power. Despite the fury and adrenaline pumping through him, he suddenly felt afraid.

“That’s it, Legoshi,” he said, smiling. “Clever wolf. But it’s just kicked in.” He pushed forward, forcing him back, his arms splaying out behind him. And then, as they buckled, he pulled them down and behind the wolf’s back, hugging the canine tight and pinning him there, trapped. He began shaking. “Are you trying to punish me?” he asked, quietly. “Do you think that you’re the perfect carnivore here? You can’t be, can you?” Forcing him back, Bill pushed Legoshi around so that he was facing the audience, albeit hidden behind the feline. “I did this for all predators, especially you,” he said, and Legoshi winced in pain as he felt sharp claws digging into his back. “Didn’t it feel liberating? Look at you now, it worked, I helped you! You were so confident, proud, turning a corner thanks to my help, because of my help.” The wolf closed his eyes and his mind flicked back, feeling the dark inner conflict and terrible desires he’d felt that night. The night after he’d briefly been to a party, Bill amongst them all…

“Calm down!” the tiger announced out loud to the crowd. “You are no different from me! Us who have paws for killing!”

Wincing, the wolf felt the claws dig in further, warmth spreading down his back and a copper smell filling the air. It was just like that night with Haru, only the sides were flipped. Bill whispered to him. “Don’t you ever challenge me again, okay? After all I did for preds like you, this betrayal hurts, you know? But I’m forgiving. I’ll just leave these stripes on your back as a token of our friendship.”

Legoshi closed his eyes and trembled. Here he was, in Haru’s place…

“Legoshi, stand down,” the tiger ordered. “You can barely stand up anymore. Fall down now, and our play ends beautifully.”

Legoshi couldn’t help but note how it was still about the play, even after all this. Bill’s war was lost, but he was going to win the battle. His knees gave way and he tumbled down onto the floor, looking up at the victor above him, smiling with joy, his eyes wide and his body ready for anything. He looked like a true carnivore in his prime; after all the work and trials, Bill’s plan had succeeded. He’d got what he wanted. A drug that allowed a predator to experience his wild side to the full.

“You, a pathetic wolf,” he announced out loud to the crowd. “Accept your destiny!” He picked up one of their lost swords off the stage, raising it up and glowering down at him. “I am the hero. Let me finish you off in style.” His foot was planted on his chest, his sword raised and ready.

In a resigned way, Legoshi felt that too. Was this even a play anymore? He didn’t know.

Up it went, before diving down, only to flash away in an instant.

The entire audience gasped and Legoshi looked up, gasping as he saw a saviour with antlers. Louis stood there, dressed in his own costume, the Adler mask recovered and in his hoof. “Looks like you’re having too much fun! _”_ he called out, before whispering to Bill. “Sorry, but I need you to play a villain.” The mask went on, pulled down like he was a knight about to enter the joust. Legoshi briefly glanced down to his leg, spotting a rough brace peeking out from beneath his trousers. Still, he was keeping his weight off of it. The deer ignored it though, calling out to the crowd. “I know who you really are!”

“He’s the drugger,” came a shout, as Legoshi spotted his friends clambering up onto the stage.

Louis turned to them. “What are you doing! The performance…”

“-Is over,” Nick yelled, “didn’t get it anyway, should have just done _Evita,_ and the tiger is the one drugging the predators!”

“I was handling this!” the deer yelled.

Bill glanced around, before spotting the curtains pulling back in and throwing down his sword. “And so was I! Do you know who I am, I am Adler the reaper! This was my time to…”

“Oh, shut up!” Haru shouted, seething. She was a fair distance away from him, Nick slipping to the side, so that he was behind the tiger.

The curtains closed to a chorus of confusion, Legoshi managing to pull himself up. “Bill confessed to it all. It’s true. The serum vial is over there.”

Louis turned to him. “I’m mad at you too! You could have waited until after.”

“And you’ve got a broken leg,” Judy countered, glancing back to the tiger and fox behind him. “And Bill there is responsible for everything. What did you tell me to do to that mammal!?”

The deer backed off, gritting his teeth. “Then let’s just end this farce here.”

“Oh,” Bill spoke, glancing at him. “Seems this is a performance not even you can salvage. Oh, how sad. So, how will you fix it all now?”

Judy smiled. “I’ve already called the police. You’re going down.”

Bill looked at her, his sharp grin growing. “So, little bunny. We meet again. If I’ve lost then I can fight or flee. But I’m a predator in his prime. I think I’ll fight.”

He leapt forward only to fall, crashing to the ground, tripped up by a tie that had been thrown around his legs and tied as he was distracted. He glanced back, growling as he saw the fox who’d done it.

“Get on him!” Louis ordered, glancing at Legoshi. The wolf obeyed, jumping on.

“Place a paw on his upper arm and pull back with your other at the paw,” Judy shouted. “Get him in a lock.”

Even as the tiger struggled fiercely, Legoshi managed to get him in one, but he was beginning to fight, slipping loose none the less. “You think you can hold me back?” he asked, rolling himself over, throwing the wolf off. He shook his feet, a rip coming out as Nick’s tie was torn into two. The fox looked on in horror. “You bastard! That was my dad’s!”

“Oh screw you, you should be on my side,” he spoke, getting up. “Why do you side with them, the prey, what can they even do to…”

He was cut off as Louis charged, his head tilted to the side. One antler thrust at his head, making him scream in pain as an eye was hit, while the other slammed into his chest and knocked him back. He yelled and cursed, stumbling backwards and dragging Louis for a second or two until the cervine could loosen his newly red-tipped antlers.

A final flick and Bill tumbled through the curtains and fell off the stage, yelling before going quiet as a thud rang out. A wave of screams came from the audience.

The deer panted, hissing as some weight went onto his bad foot. He looked over to see some blood dripping from one of his tines, casually feeling it with one of his hoofs while testing how secure they still were. He and the others peered out, observing the groaning and whimpering feline, before pulling off his mask.

He then glanced back at the others, a neutral look on his face as he spoke softly. “Go ahead. Disappear with the morning dew. With me, who is coming to the end.” He then turned back forward, waiting for an applause that would never come.


	12. (Finale): Life is Messy

.

.

“A while back, you said that I was a wolf, I should act like one.” There was a long pause as Legoshi breathed in. The mood in the auditorium was quiet, Bill had been taken out by medics and secured by the police, while Bogo had got the basics from them. He’d saved his harsh glares and scalding words for the grey wolf who’d acted without thinking, committing himself to violence at the exact moment that he’d realised that Bill _wasn’t_ a threat to anyone else in the room. Still, he conceded that if he’d learnt just who had drugged him back when he was that age, the events might not have been too dissimilar. That was on top of the tiger being at fault for Tem’s murder, though they currently didn’t know if it was via an unwitting middle mammal or not. The Chief had left, giving a warning, which Legoshi had mulled over before finally turning to the deer who sat beside him. “Do you still think that now, Louis?”

The cervine ignored him for a second or two, pulling a rag out of a bucket of soapy water and bringing it up, scrubbing one of his tines before observing it in the mirror, seeing whether he’d got all the blood off.

“Louis?”

With a swift flick, the rag was chucked into the bucket, water splashing about. The red deer turned to glare at the wolf. “You certainly tried your hardest against him, it was certainly predatory. But I’d say it was poor form for a _wolf_.”

“Hey!” came a shout from Haru, who’d been busy checking the bandages on Legoshi’s back. “He fought his best, he didn’t realise that Bill was that strong.”

“I wasn’t talking about strength,” Louis brushed off, his nostrils flaring. “You’ve grown quite a pack, Legoshi, but you didn’t exactly call on it. There was no teamwork, no strategy, though, to give you credit, once you were given orders you followed them well. Compare that to the fox who used his cunning, inventiveness and quick-wits to almost knock-out the attacker.”

Nick blinked, not sure how to take that; it felt like someone was trying to insult him by saying how he always turned up to meetings on time. Still, it briefly distracted him from the shock of it all, and the gut-punch that came from the tearing of his tie (even if the theatre society said that their tailors could fix it). If Nick took it ambiguously, Haru took it very badly. “He’s just been through a lot, and you’re criticising him for poor teamwork!?”

“I’m answering his question,” he spoke, turning off and fixing his piercing gaze at something or other in the distance. “He asked me if I still thought he should act more like a wolf. More like a strong pack animal known for their loyalty, teamwork and persistence. I answered truthfully, I’m not sure if I saw much of that there.”

“Well,” Judy came in, holding off a bit as she tried to mediate. “I suppose we can talk about this later, we’re all running very emotional…”

“-Avoidable,” Louis stressed, “If you’d have let me recover it. We could have wrapped up without causing a horror show for the audience, got Bill off, and dealt with him after. Only you barged onto the stage, and escalated it all into a fight.”

Judy looked at him, blinking, before looking down at his feet, her gaze hardening. “Would he have let you improv’d him off, or would he have fought you? You still have a bad leg; it wasn’t worth the risk. I know how much this means to you, but let it go…”

He stood silent for a second or two, only for Legoshi to speak up. “What about Bill, then? He’s a tiger, was he acting like one?”

…

“Louis?”

…

“He took it too far,” the red deer spat, shaking a little. “Strength, power, ambition…”

“-And he took that and ran on and on with it…”

“Over the limits of what was acceptable!” the red deer shouted. “Like any mammal can do, from a bunny to a fox to a wolf to a deer. But do not waste my time with your slippery slope fallacy. I wanted you, all of you, to feel pride in yourself, not to treat others as expendables, lessers, things to tread under your feet like him.” He stood up, shaking, before grabbing his crutches and walking out.

There was a long pause, before Judy slipped after him.

.

.

“You followed me.”

“I did,” Judy admitted.

“If you have something to say, why didn’t you say it back there?”

“As you made me promise to keep this between us.” His ears flicked slightly and he turned away. “You went through stuff I can’t imagine,” she said, “and you only survived as you always fought, you always battled, you made yourself hard. You need to keep on winning and winning, never acting like you can lose. Everything is for the cause, you at the helm so you can shoulder the burden, to protect others.”

There was a long pause. “Who else would do it. _Could_ do it?”

Judy looked on. “These past few days, I’ve seen things… A wolf, scared of his own strength and confronted by what that could do, learning to come out of his shell. A bunny who embraced her body, the one thing that could make her feel anything other than small and belittled, ostracised for it but then finding friends who didn’t care. A fox, distrusting of the world that he thought would never trust him, that hurt him when he was a little kit just wanting to join a pack, learning to trust again.” She paused, wiping a misting tear from the corner of her eye. “And I see a deer, thinking he has to be courageous and has to lead and has to be perfect so that others don’t have to suffer like he had, getting shaken up as things don’t go right and something haunting from his past comes up again. And even if he’s won, he’s scared again, he’s that terrified little fawn once more and that itself scares him. He doesn’t know how to react, other than trying to double down. I want him to know that he has friends, who care for him, who’ll be there for him, whatever happens. I promise.”

Looking up, tears dripping from her eyes, she walked forward, holding out a paw.

Louis looked down at it.

Looked down at it.

Looked up, at her. A small smile grew upon his muzzle. “I remember telling you that, on top of all your ambitions, I admired you as you held on to where you came from. Bunnies. Emotional. Caring. Generous. Loving children too, willing to do whatever it takes to keep them safe, as what else is the alternative?”

Judy blushed a little. Dammit, it kind of was the truth, even to the point that many bunnies could take it all way too far. She couldn’t help but think of her father.

He looked away, beginning to walk, only to freeze as he felt a weight around his good leg. He looked down to see Judy there, hugging it. He smiled again. “My point exactly.”

“Sorry, but I don’t know when to quit.”

He kept his smile, before taking the time to sit down. Breathing in and out, an ear flicking here or there, his smile wavering on and off, he looked around. His eyes almost had the stuck in headlights look upon them, yet they were mixed with a soft sadness and a sweet relief.

…

“What now?” Judy asked, as she got up until his lap, making him look unsure for a second or two.

“I have to keep being strong,” he said. “There’ll be ones who will try and take advantage of all of this, split the different species apart. We can’t let that happen.”

Judy nodded. “One ewe especially.”

Louis nodded, knowingly.

“I mean, you’d almost expect that to be you,” she mused. After all, given his past, given the horrors he’d seen. “Say, what did happen to that black market?”

His ear flicked. “I’m kind of glad you said that. My father made sure to tip off the police, it was broken up a while later following his input,” he spoke. “I couldn’t be a witness; I couldn’t really speak the language after all…” There was a long pause. “It was a relief, knowing that the fellow deer I’d fought to save from being eaten hadn’t been condemned to that fate by the very same actions. He and the others were put into foster care, given intensive tutoring like I was. Many didn’t turn out well, but he was… functional. His foster parents gave him the name Zach, and when I learnt how to ask him, my father let him visit me. -Through a round-about method so the parents wouldn’t know the truth.”

Judy smiled, wiping her tears. “That’s good to hear.”

There was a long pause. “You asked why I didn’t turn out like that Ewe? For a while, despite the advice of my father, I hated predators ever since I learnt what they were. Why wouldn’t I? So did Zach.”

“You were kids, coming out of hell. You two grew out of it.”

“I was shaken out of it,” he replied. “I don’t know about him; he was the one who shook me.”

“Huh?”

“On one of our meetups, he talked about this social group he went to. Nominally all prey, he said that a predator was going to try and join. He’d told them what predators could do, the literal truth, and his friends got angry and decided to show the world that they weren’t weak, they weren’t prey, they would show this predator who was boss. More than that, they would punish him, just like we thought they deserved in our ten-year-old minds. Zach just wanted something to round it off, the cherry on top, and hearing it and being who I was I easily procured it and handed it over. Next week, I listened on in glee as they said that they’d tricked him into arriving in earlier, the lights out, and then let him come in and give the oath. Promising to be brave, loyal, helpful, trustworthy… Before they then asked him about what he truly was, attacking him, beating him down and chaining him up…” 

There was a long pause, before Louis spoke again. “Zach was talking in glee about how he was begging, crying, asking what he’d done wrong before running out, bawling. ‘What did I do wrong?’ Those years I spent caged up… Like they caged him up that night. Back then in my cage, I didn’t know why but I felt that it was wrong, that it was a terrible injustice, not that I could put it into words. I felt shame and the feeling that I’d messed up and was being punished somehow, but I’d never known what I’d done wrong. Just like that predator, back then. Then I learnt that they’d said it was because of who he was. Just like I’d learnt it was because I was born prey, I… -I was shaken, and that night I dreamt I was in my cage again, only I was that predator who’d wanted to join the Junior Ranger Scouts and it was the prey locking us in, beating us up, leading us out. Predators kits like me were the shaken and scared ones. And instead of my father coming to rescue me, it was my own reflection, an angry deer throwing me back and hurling those same questions at me as he strapped the muzzle I’d provided onto my face.”

…

He looked down, Judy looked up, and through her sniffing, crying, tear filled eyes she could swear that she could see him shake and tremble ever so slightly. He spoke. “Ask the question,” he said, a slight hitch in his voice.

“What… what species was he?”

“A fox,” he said, a tear dripping from his eye. “Called Nick…” There was a hitch in his voice, his teeth working over his lips. “When you talked about trust right now, I imagined the connection, I…”

“You were ten,” Judy sobbed. “After all you’d been through… -You’re a good mammal, Louis… You were a fawn!”

“I contributed,” he spoke, scowling. “I made him suffer the same kind of fear I _vowed_ to save everyone from. After that dream, I realised that we had to go for species unity, that _no_ child should have to go through anything like that, and we couldn’t just swap the fawns, kids and calves for kits, cubs and kittens. Because then it might swap over and over and over again, the pain carrying on and on. After all, look at that fox, taught to live a miserable and pitiful existence, at my hooves, I…” He broke off, another hiss coming from him. It was followed by another, the great deer trembling, his teeth bearing tight. “At… my… hooves…” Judy stood up and hugged him tight as he worked through it.

Finally, though, he seemed to have recovered. “I’ll go and get him,” he said, standing up sadly. He paused though, looking down at her. “Thank you, though, Judy Hopps. For giving me the chance to fix this terrible error of mine.”

.

.

When the pair got back and Louis had asked Nick for a talk in private, leaving Judy waiting there with Haru and Legoshi. Not long after, Juno and Jack had joined them. The she-wolf stood an awkward distance away from the one who’s affections she’d had. The white bunny sat in his lap, his massive paws delicately stroking her head and down her ears, taking the same care that he would were she a tiny beetle.

“Are you okay?” she asked, to Juno.

The she-wolf glanced back and huffed. “I don’t know.”

“Join the club,” Legoshi noted.

“-It’s wrong,” she said, glancing up, getting angry. “Not just what he did, but the fact that I know it’s going to get worse for us! You know it, don’t you? That ewe and her friends, they’ll try and stoke it up.”

Legoshi nodded. “That will happen, yes.”

“But it shouldn’t!” she said, trembling. “And I’m not going to let her, not going to let us get bullied even more. It’s why I have to go forward, I have to be the Beastar, I… -We deserve to live in dignity!”

“Bill thought that too,” Legoshi said, catching her attention. He shrugged. “He thought he was helping, you, me, us… Letting us get in touch with ourselves. But that wasn’t what made me feel good as myself. It was friends of all species, willing to see past what I wanted to be.”

“But what if I want to be a proud wolf?”

There was a long pause. “There’s no shame in that,” Haru spoke. “Mammals will attack you for being you, they attacked me too. They even attacked Jack. You have to stand up to them. You’re a true wolf, huh? Why don’t you join a pack?”

“I…” she began, still not sounding sure. Judy walked forward. “Juno, I don’t know you,” she said. “But you remind me of Louis. What you two want is so close to each other, you know?”

“I… Maybe it is,” she said. “But it’s not the same. There’s only one Beastar, only one who can lead mammal kind.”

“Shame you can’t share it,” Jack observed.

Juno nodded, before a new voice spoke up. “Who says you can’t?” They all turned to see Louis and Nick, paw in hoof. The fox let go and carried on speaking, and Judy couldn’t help but think he seemed lighter, happier, like a great burden had been lifted. “Listen, the big problem we have is unity, right? So, it figures that the one to lead us out of it should be a symbol of that, right? Not one mammal, but two, believing you shouldn’t be ashamed of being you.”

They all looked at each other.

Louis looked down and held out a hoof. “I don’t know you, but maybe we should talk. See if we should have a partnership. Together, Beastars. Pred and prey, united.”

“I don’t know you too,” she said. “But maybe, after knowing you… It could work. But they might just say we can’t do it.”

“Well, try anyway,” Judy said. “And if you fail, who cares. Maybe it’s just the symbol that matters.”

“Hey,” Nick said. “Why not. In fact, you can sell this thing in other places too. I…” There was a pause as a flash of joy lit up on his face. “Speaking of which, the drama club! Going forward from stuff of limited sense like Adler…” Louis groaned, rolling his eyes but letting his mouth flick up a little. “For your next production: _Juan_ ,” he said, gesturing to the deer. “ _Eva_ ,” he said, gesturing at Juno. He then raised his paw and sung out. “ _Don’t cry for me Zootopia… The truth is I never left you…”_

Louis held up a hoof. “I think we all need a lot of time to talk things through,” he said, glancing down at Nick. “However much you try and scoot us along with your foxy skills, _Che_.” Nick smiled and nodded in appreciation. “But it’s been a long day, and my father has been requesting my audience. See you soon, friends.”

They waved him as he went, Judy nudging up to Nick. “Went well?” she asked, quietly.

He looked down and sighed, scratching behind his ears. “Well, never expected Louis to kowtow to me, I…” He trailed off, looking at where he’d gone. “Poor mammal,” he spoke, his ears going back. “But I’m happy we met and found peace. But poor mammal… Makes me feel like I went through nothing.”

“You didn’t,” Judy said, coming up and holding his paw. “You didn’t.”

“I mean,” Haru cut in, “it’s not like you’ve got an arranged marriage or anything…”

…

“Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“The bit about an arranged marriage,” Nick said, “that bit.”

“Oh,” she noted. “His father has someone picked out for him to marry.”

“And how did you know that?” Judy asked.

“Well,” she began. “He once spent ten days in my garden, waiting for replacement antlers after he’d shed his early. A bit confusing at first, especially as he referred to himself in the 3rd person. ‘Can’t let mammals see Louis the red deer with no antlers.’”

“-Always a sign of mental stability,” Nick commented.

“But I gave him refuge and… well…” she carried on, Judy and Legoshi looking at each other before rolling their eyes. Nick glanced at them before looking down at the white doe, crossing his paws and smiling smugly. Haru frowned at him, before looking up at Legoshi. “I care for him,” she said. “But I think I care for you more.”

“I think I care for you, too,” he spoke, stroking her back.

Judy glanced at Nick. Nick glanced at Judy, before speaking. “Let’s not rush into anything because of peer pressure, Carrots.”

“You do know that I don’t know when to quit,” she counted.

“Oh gawd,” Nick moaned melodramatically. The whole group laughed; the whole group relaxed. They’d made it, they were together, they were close. They had each others backs, whatever might happen next.

Judy’s phone rang. “Yep, he- Dad? Wait, no, I’m safe! I’m safe! Honest, it’s over, please, uhhh…” She brought it down, looking at Haru. “You know how Louis sheltered in your place?”

“Uh-hu. Also, yes.”

“Thanks!” Judy shouted.

“Wait a minute,” Nick said, holding her off and taking her phone. Hanging up, looking through, he pressed a few buttons and handed it back. “Tracking app, removed.”

“Tracking app!?”

Her phone rang again, she picked it up, listened in before frowning. “Right.” She put it down. “Thanks Nick.”

“Hey,” he said, as she took off. “It’s called a hustle, sweetheart.”

.

.

.

**AN: And there we go. I’m sure that many of you will be asking about a sequel…**

**This fic was conceived and planned on the spur of the moment, me taking what I thought would fit very well together and fitting it together. It was all meant to be self-contained, and I never planned for there to be a sequel… I still don’t, though if I have another spark of inspiration, I will certainly give it a go. If that’s the case, I’ll drop a little fluff chapter onto the end of this fic, just to let everyone know that a new one is out there.**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, and thanks for reading along. Any last thoughts and comments would be super appreciated. Stay safe and stay pawsome.**


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